


Political Party

by Titch360



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-22
Updated: 2016-08-22
Packaged: 2018-08-10 08:45:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 30,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7838209
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Titch360/pseuds/Titch360
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes, in order to get what we want, we have to play politics.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Political Party

Political Party

 

Damian walked into the dining room early Sunday morning to find Bruce and Dick sitting at the dining table.  Both men were reading the newspaper, Bruce was reading the financial section while Dick was reading the Sunday comics, with a cup of coffee, and the boy wasn’t noticed for a minute.

“Good morning, son,” Bruce said when he lowered his paper to take a sip of his coffee.  “Sleep well?”

“Yes, Father.  Good morning.  Um…” Damian had come into the room to speak with Dick.  Bruce’s presence complicated the conversation a bit, but Dick had looked up and smiled at Bruce’s greeting.  There was no going back now.  “Um…Grayson, there is something we need to talk about.”

Bruce looked pained that Damian would ask Dick for help, when Bruce was sitting right there.  Dick noticed Bruce’s grimace, but strangely enough, noticed a matching look on Damian’s face.

“What can we do for you, Damian?” Dick asked, emphasizing the word ‘we’.

If anything, Damian looked even more uncomfortable as he asked, “Can I bounce something off of you, Grayson?”

“Sure, Little D.”

The words were barely out of Dick’s mouth when Damian wound up and threw a tennis ball as hard as he could at the man.  The ball connected with Dick’s forehead with a hollow _thok_ before bouncing high into the air, off the ceiling, and lodging in the chandelier.  Dick’s hands covered the spot on his forehead where the ball had hit.  Bruce’s hands covered his mouth.  His face grew redder, and Dick thought an epic blow-up was coming, until he saw barely restrained mirth behind their father’s eyes.

“Why did you do that?” Dick asked in shock.

“Stop posting my relationship status to Facebook, Grayson.”

Confused, Dick looked over at Bruce and asked, “Are you going to do something about this?”

“Like what?  He asked politely, and you said it was okay.”  The last few words were barely distinguishable, as they came out in a laugh when Bruce couldn’t hold it in anymore.

Dick looked at Damian, comprehension dawning on his features.  “Bounce something off of me?  If that didn’t hurt so much, it would be funny.  What did I do to deserve that?”

“Stop posting my relationship status to Facebook,” Damian repeated.  “I’m not on Facebook, because I don’t want my personal information getting out.  I would appreciate if you respected that, and didn’t go posting my life to the whole damn world.”

“What did he post, Damian?”  Bruce asked, now that he had stopped laughing and was curious.

Damian pulled out his phone, pulled up the offending post, and slid the phone across the table to Bruce.  Bruce picked it up and read aloud, “Looking forward to a quiet weekend with family.  On a similar and satisfying note, Damian Wayne is in a committed relationship with Robin Abbey.”

Despite his earlier anger, Damian couldn’t help but smile when he heard the status read out loud.  Bruce looked up with a shocked grin and asked, “ _Are_ you two in a committed relationship?”

“Tt, of course we are.  I would have thought the way I begged you to go to a society party, just to see her, would have made that clear.”

Bruce’s grin warmed slightly as he clarified, “I understand that, I was just wondering if you considered yourself to be committed to Robin.”

Damian met Bruce’s eyes and said softly, “I do, Father.”

Bruce smiled at the soft smile on Damian’s face, and the faraway look in his eyes at the thought of his girlfriend.  Dick looked at the boy suspiciously and said, “I posted that update on Friday.  The only way you could have seen it is…” Dick beamed at the boy, “You _are_ on Facebook!  Wait, my page is private.  How did you get on my friends list without me knowing?”

Damian rolled his eyes, “I am _not_ on Facebook.  Robin texted me a screenshot of your page…Which brings up another complaint.  Why are you friends with my girlfriend on Facebook?  That’s a little creepy, Grayson.”

“He has a point, Dick,” Bruce said, failing to hide the smile that graced his lips when he saw his sons interacting.

“I’m just trying to make sure our boy is happy, Bruce.”  Dick turned back to Damian and said, “I only reposted what she had posted first.  Why are you mad at me, and not her?”

Damian met Dick’s eyes evenly and said, “Because she asked me first before posting it.  I’ve told her how I feel about social media, and requested to have final say in anything she posts that mentions me by name.  She agreed.  I knew she posted our relationship status last week; I approved of it.”

Bruce looked curious, “How do you feel about social media, Damian?”

The boy sat down at the table and said, “There are only three types of people who use social media, Father,” Damian counted them off on his fingers, “ten year old girls, pedophiles looking to attract ten year old girls, and those whose lives are so empty and devoid of human interaction that they crave the attention and approval of complete strangers, who they will never meet and who really don’t give a damn about them.”

Damian turned to Dick and pointedly asked, “Which of those categories do _you_ fall under, Grayson?”

Dick blushed before saying, “There are more than just those three types of people on social media, Damian.  Although I will agree that those three are the predominant user profiles.  I’m still confused, though.  My post was in no way bad or embarrassing.  You approved of Robin posting it, why is it so bad that I repost it?”

Damian sighed and said, “Get your phone out and bring up your Facebook page.”  Dick did as the boy asked.  When he looked up, Damian continued, “Would you read out your friends list, please?”

Dick looked at the list, immediately getting what Damian was hinting at, but read the list anyway.  “Tim Drake, Jason Todd, Barbara Gordon, Wally West, Clark Kent, Diana Prince, Victor Stone, Roy Harper, Robin Abbey, and…uh, Alfred Pennyworth.”

“Notice anything about that list that might seem _suspicious,_ Grayson?”

Bruce did a double take and said, “Wait, _Alfred_ is on Facebook?”

“Oh, yes sir.  I find it a great way to stay in touch with old friends,” the butler said, refilling the coffee cups on the table.  “By the way, congratulations on your happy relationship, Master Damian.”

Damian glared at Dick while gesturing at Alfred and said, “See, Grayson?  That’s what I’m talking about!  Look at Robin’s friends list.  We don’t know a single person on there, but I have to either live with or work with everyone on your friends list.  If the nicest person on your list is going to comment about your post, what are the rest of them going to say?”

Dick scrolled down on his page and said, “Well, Barbara said ‘good for him’.  Aunt Diana said ‘Aww’, with a bunch of smiley faces.  Uncle Clark said ‘knew he had it in him, way to go’.  Wally said ‘Irey will be devastated, but I’m glad he’s happy’.  Hey, if it doesn’t work out with Robin, it sounds like you have a secret admirer.”

Damian rose, growling, intent on shoving the implication that he and Robin wouldn’t work out back down Dick’s throat.  Having seen the posts Dick was reading earlier, and predicting that Damian wouldn’t like the last one, Alfred was already standing behind the boy before he rose.  He held out his hand over Damian’s shoulder and caught it firmly as the boy stood.

The touch was enough to shake Damian out of his blood lust, and he allowed the butler to push him back into his chair.  Alfred kept a firm, yet gentle, grip on the boy’s shoulder for several angry breaths, until Damian was able to tear his fierce gaze from Dick’s shocked face.

He turned his head slightly and said, “Thank you, Pennyworth.  I suppose he’s safe…for now.”

Bruce cleared his throat, “He may be safe, but you might not be.  Would you care to explain this?”

Damian turned his head and paled slightly.  Bruce held up Damian’s phone, which was showing a picture of a bikini-clad Robin Abbey.  Dick snickered as Damian opened his mouth and said hesitantly, “It’s a-a p-picture of my girlfriend.”

“It’s a picture of your girlfriend in her underwear.”

Damian said nervously, “It’s a swimsuit, Father.”

Bruce sighed and said, “Son, I need to know just how _committed_ you and Robin are.”

Damian rolled his eyes again and said, “We aren’t having sex, Father.  We…we aren’t ready for that yet.  We haven’t even talked about it.  I don’t think either of us would be opposed to the idea, but…it’s too soon.  We talk all the time, but we don’t see each other enough for anything like that to have happened.”

Bruce grimaced, “That’s what concerns me.  You two might feel you need to take advantage of what little time you have together.”

Damian looked up, hope shining in his eyes, “Can we, Father?”

Bruce looked shocked, “Are you, my twelve year old son, asking me for permission to have sex with your fourteen year old girlfriend?”

Damian looked uncomfortable, but said, “I don’t…I mean, I’m not planning anything, and I don’t think she is either, but if it were to…happen, would you be mad at me?”

Bruce searched his son’s eyes for a long minute.  As it had surprised him so often lately, he realized again just how young his son was, despite everything he had been through.  That Damian still had a shred of innocence in his gaze was amazing to the man.  He didn’t want his boy to lose that.

Bruce took a deep breath, hoping he was about to say the right thing in this latest parenting moment.  “Damian, I know I don’t provide the best example to follow when it comes to matters like this.  I don’t want you to do anything outside of your comfort level.  I…I won’t be mad if something happens.  I may not be too happy, but I won’t be mad.  Just promise me you will be safe about anything that happens.  You are mature enough to make your own decisions, and I doubt that any of us living under this roof didn’t want to, or have to, make that same decision at around your age.  Just make sure neither of you are forcing the other into something you aren’t ready for.”

Dick and Damian gave Bruce matching shocked looks, and Dick asked, “Seriously?”

Bruce smirked and said, “I will say this, though.  While it is true that one day I want grandchildren, I want that day to be in the distant future, when I am an old man, and you are no longer legally considered to be a child.”

Alfred reentered the dining room carrying three plates and said, “I assume this is appropriate breakfast conversation, gentlemen?”

Damian blushed a deep crimson, while Dick and Bruce chuckled good-naturedly.  Bruce said, “Probably not, Alfred.”

“Then might I suggest finding a more appetizing topic?  Something to aid in the digestion, perhaps?”

As the butler was walking out of the room, Damian asked innocently, “Pennyworth, I was unaware that bodily functions were acceptable dining conversation topics.”

Alfred’s shoulders sagged and he shook his head resignedly as he left the dining room.

“What was that for, Damian?” Bruce asked as he handed the boy his phone back.

“He was the one who brought up digestion, Father.”

Bruce’s head shake and groan matched Alfred’s.  He said, “Just eat your breakfast.”

When the meal was completed, Bruce caught up to Damian in the hallway and said, “Just because I promised not to be too mad if something were to happen between you and Robin, that doesn’t mean you should go out of your way to test that assurance.  There is something else you should consider, though.  I may be generally okay with the topic, but Mike Abbey will be homicidal if anything were to happen.  He would be upset enough if he even found out this conversation took place.  Just think about that, before anything…happens.”

Bruce walked away, leaving the boy to ponder new thoughts.

_Monday…_

Bruce was grumbling as he walked into his home after work on Monday.  He was met at the door by a silent Alfred Pennyworth.  Bruce handed off his jacket and briefcase to the stony-faced butler, and was about to take off his shoes when he closed his eyes and sighed.

“Okay, Alfred.  I get it.  I screwed up today.”

Alfred finally broke his silence, secretly pleased that he could still intimidate the man.  “I would say so, Master Bruce.  What were you thinking?”

Bruce straightened after removing his loafers, “I was thinking that Lucius was right, and the rumored surprise audit is no longer a rumor.”

Alfred gasped sharply, “Well…I see.  You were afraid of that happening.  Still, no one could have taken the ten seconds to explain that to Master Damian?  You made it perfectly clear to the boy when you offered him the position that he could not be in the building during audits.  Was there no way to let him know that was happening?”

“Like I said, I screwed up.  Um…how bad was it today?”

Alfred hung up the coat as he said, “Needless to say, he was not happy.  I have no doubt that his emotions, and reactions to those emotions, have run the gamut today.  That said, he is in his room, where he has been since shortly after breakfast.”

Bruce couldn’t hide the shock from his expression.  “He was _that_ _bad_?  He reacted badly enough that you felt the need to confine him to his room?”

Alfred sniffed, “His confinement is a personal choice, Master Bruce.  I did not send him there, nor require he stay there once he went there.  I did follow Master Damian up to his room after he locked himself in, though.  I can understand why he chose to relocate to his room.  Had he chosen to throw his tantrum, and say the things he said, in front of me, he would not currently be free to come and go from his room as he pleases.  As he chose to confine his anger to his room, and therefore not display it in front of me, I am content with pretending it didn’t happen.”

Bruce thought for several long seconds before saying, “He made the right choice, then.  He’s maturing, Alfred.  I’m happy that he made a better choice than I did today.  I guess I should go up and let him in on what’s going on.”

Alfred nodded and said, “Yes, you should.  While you are up there, please inform the young sir that dinner will be early tonight.  He refused lunch today; he must be quite hungry by now, for a growing boy.”

Bruce grimaced as he nodded and climbed the stairs.  Standing outside of Damian’s closed bedroom door, he listened for close to a minute to judge the mood in the room.  Hearing nothing, he tapped on the aged wooden portal.

“I wish to be left alone.”

_That’s not as angry as I thought he would sound.  Then again, he doesn’t know who is knocking yet._   Bruce inched the door open just enough to stick his head through, ready to pull it back quickly if anything were to be thrown at him.  “May I come in?”

A cold glare was sent Bruce’s way.  Damian sat on his bed, leaning against his headboard with his arms crossed over his chest.  He huffed angrily and looked away before saying, “Whatever.”

Bruce took that for a yes and entered the room.  He thought better of sitting on the bed, next to the boy, lest the crossed arms concealed some sort of blade.  Instead, he pulled the desk chair over next to the bed and sat down.

“Damian, can I explain what happened today?”

The boy whipped his head around to face his father, eyes blazing.  “No, let _me_ explain what happened today, Father.  I woke up in a good mood, ready to make a contribution to _your_ company.  After eating breakfast, while I was getting dressed, I get a call from Jerry that lasted three seconds, in which I was told not to come into work today.  I was confused, so I called him back to see what was going on.  That call lasted five seconds, and Jerry told me that he couldn’t spare the time to talk to me, and I was not to come in this week _at_ _all_.  I wasn’t able to ask any questions, or get any explanation, so I called you to try to find out what was going on.  You had your cell phone turned off, so I called your secretary.  Do you know what she told me?  She told me that you were busy all day, and not taking any calls, _especially from me._   Do you know what it feels like to be told that you specifically instructed your secretary to deny my calls?

“Still trying to get answers, to questions I haven’t even been allowed to ask yet, I called Grayson.  He sent my calls to voicemail, but texted me that you both were very busy, and to stop calling.”  Damian held up the message for Bruce to read, and the man winced at the short text from his eldest to his youngest.

“I don’t understand, Father.  What did I do wrong?  Why am I being shut out?  When I left work last Friday, Jerry told me that I had done good work, and looked forward to Monday.  Now, I’m being ignored.  Am I still employed?  Does anyone still want me there, or have I been wasting my time this past month?”

Bruce sighed at the pain in his son’s voice.  He had to clear his throat to be able to speak, but said, “Son, I’m so sorry.  I screwed up today.  This all could have been avoided with just one sentence, and I was too dense to realize that this morning.  You have every right to be angry, but please, only be angry at me, because the decision to shut you out was mine.  Do you remember what I said before you started?  If auditors were in the building, and you weren’t, then you needed to stay away.  Well, auditors showed up on a surprise inspection today.  They plan on being in the building all week.”

Damian’s eyes widened at the news.  He was silent for a minute before saying, “You couldn’t have told me that this morning?  Grayson couldn’t have told me that?  You couldn’t have given Jean or Jerry permission to tell me that?  What the hell, Father?  It’s just five words: Auditors are in the building.  I would have understood that!  That would have been completely understandable.  I wouldn’t have questioned that.  Instead, I had to sit here, wondering if I did something wrong; wondering what I could have done that was so bad that every contact I have in the building won’t talk to me.”

Bruce felt guilt roll through him.  He reached out a hand to his son.  Damian just looked at it, until Bruce let it drop to the bed.  “You didn’t deserve that, Damian,” Bruce said quietly.  “You didn’t do anything wrong.  In fact, I’m very proud of the way you handled yourself today in the face of my glaring stupidity.”

Damian looked a bit guilty as he diverted his eyes to the mattress.  “I…I didn’t handle myself all that well today, Father.”

Bruce reached out again, lifting Damian’s chin with a finger.  He met the blue eyes and said, “What are you talking about?  You were faced with an upsetting situation.  Instead of flying off the handle, you contained your reaction.  When it was too much to keep inside, you took yourself to a safe place, where you could let it out without any unintended consequences or damages.  I don’t care what you said or did while you were angry.  What matters is that you did it in here, where you felt you could contain your reaction.”

Still looking guilty, Damian murmured, “How much of it did Pennyworth hear?”

“He didn’t say.  Enough to know that you weren’t happy, obviously.  He will not bring it up, though, because you deliberately took your reaction and ensuing actions away from him.  He told me that he is willing to chalk this up to extenuating circumstances, and leave it at that.”  Bruce looked around the room before speaking again, “It seems that destruction was not on your mind today.  Your room looks pretty orderly.”

A hint of a smirk played at the edges of Damian’s lips.  “I didn’t want to get in trouble for destroying your things, and I wasn’t going to break my stuff, so I thought this was the safest place to get some yelling done.”

Bruce held both arms out, hoping to hug his son.  Damian was just starting to move in Bruce’s direction when his phone started vibrating on his nightstand.  Bruce frowned as Damian picked up the device and looked at the caller ID.  “It’s Jerry,” he said, as he pushed the icon to answer the call.

“Hello, may I speak with Damian, please?”

“This is Damian.  Hello, Jerry.”

“Damian, I wanted to call and apologize for this morning.  You are a valued employee, and I was wrong to treat you the way I did.  I understand if you’re mad at me, and don’t want to come back.  I would like to explain what happened before you make that decision, though.”

Damian’s eyes widened, “Don’t want to come back?  Who said anything about not coming back?”

Bruce met Damian’s eyes, matching looks of shock to be found in each set.  Jerry continued, “I know I would be upset if my supervisor treated me the way I treated you today.  I’m just trying to let you know that there will be no hard feelings if you were to choose to not come back.  Obviously, I hope you do come back; you’re a hard worker, and we’re getting a lot more done with you onboard.”

Damian smirked and said, “You can’t get rid of me that easily, Jerry.  I plan on being back at work tomorrow.”

There was a slight pause before Jerry said, “Well…that’s why I’m calling.  You see, you can’t come in this week.”

“I haven’t been there long enough to qualify for vacation time yet.”

A short laugh emanated from the supervisor.  “As I understand it, you aren’t in a position to earn vacation time.  That comes from payroll, and as far as I can tell, you aren’t listed as anything more than a corporate mascot with them.”

Damian glared at Bruce and repeated, “Corporate mascot?”

Bruce winced as he heard Dick’s joke, one he hadn’t realized had made it outside of the family.  He whispered, “Dick will explain that later.”

“Let me explain what’s going on, Damian,” Jerry said.  “This morning, we got the notification that there were OSHA auditors in the building.  Their first stop was the mailroom.  I called you to tell you not to come in today as soon as I heard.  When you called me back, the auditors were walking through the door to the mailroom.  I was face to face with the lead auditor when I hung up on you.  I’m sorry that had to happen.”

“It wasn’t appreciated, but in light of the circumstances, I suppose it can be forgiven.”

Jerry continued, “They made it through the mailroom, and we were able to cover any evidence that you have been working there.  At least, I’m pretty sure we did.  The auditors didn’t seem like they were triggering on any major red flags.  This isn’t my first OSHA audit; I’ve seen them at work before.  They told us that their inspection would take the rest of the week, but they are usually able to get it done a little faster than that.  Still, to be safe, it would be for the best if you didn’t come in until next Tuesday.”

Damian cocked his head in confusion, “Next Tuesday?  Why not Monday?”

Jerry sounded confused, “Because of the holiday?  July fourth.  You don’t have to put in for vacation time for that one.”

Damian, still not as Americanized as the rest of the family, who were actually born in the country, tried to cover for his lack of knowledge of events.  “Oh, yeah.  I forgot that was coming up so soon.  So…I guess I’ll see you next week, then?”

Damian could hear the smile in Jerry’s voice.  “I’m glad to hear that, Damian.  I’m sorry I couldn’t be clearer this morning, and I’m glad you’re choosing not to hold it against me.  Enjoy your week off, Damian.”

“Thank you for calling, Jerry.”

The call ended, and Damian put his phone back on his nightstand.  Bruce had waited patiently until the call was finished, and now was happy to see a far less conflicted look on his son’s face.  “Was he able to explain what was going on today?”

Damian’s look cooled again, “He was.  He shouldn’t have had to, but he was.”

Bruce sighed, “Damian, how many times do I have to apologize to you for how stupidly I acted today?”

A small smirk crossed Damian’s features as he said quietly, “At least once more.”

Bruce held out his arms again, and this time Damian moved forward to receive a warm hug.  Bruce whispered, “I’m sorry, son.  Forgive me, for I know not what I do.”

Damian squeezed Bruce, glad to find out that he hadn’t done anything wrong, or gotten himself in trouble at work.

Several minutes passed before Damian pulled back, not completely out of Bruce’s grasp, but enough that he could look the man in the face.  “Father, what’s OSHA?”

Bruce chuckled, “The Occupational Safety and Health Administration.  It’s a government oversight group that verifies that workplaces are safe for workers.  Have you read anything about the Industrial Revolution?”

Damian shrugged, “Just those inane stories they told us in history class.  There are so many other, more interesting revolutions, why do they bore us with that one?  Is this the whole ‘rights of the worker’ thing?”

Bruce thought for a second before saying, “Well…yes.  I know it doesn’t line up with everything you know about survival of the fittest, but adding a little workplace safety increases productivity.  I know, you are probably thinking that no one is going to lose a limb while using a fax machine, but there are other dangers of the office environment that agencies like OSHA can prevent.  These surprise audits just make sure that safety precautions are an everyday part of the working environment, and not something just put on for show.  Does that make sense?”

“Yes, Father.  I still don’t understand why no one could tell me that earlier, though.  Didn’t you or Grayson take a lunch break today?  Couldn’t a text, or a short call, have happened then?”

Bruce winced again, “Lunch was taken up discussing predictions for audit outcomes, and what could be done to increase audit scores before the auditors come back in tomorrow.”

Damian seemed to accept that answer.  He really did like working for Bruce’s company, and now that he knew what was going on, he was anxious to see how well they did on their audit.

Seeing that Damian was feeling better, Bruce said, “Come on.  I’ve been told to relay to you that dinner will be early tonight.  You must be hungry, having skipped lunch.”

A gurgle from the boy’s stomach answered Bruce’s statement.  He hadn’t thought about food since breakfast; he was too caught up in his anger.  “Dinner sounds good, Father.”

They rose and headed for the door.  Damian stopped just short of the portal and said sheepishly, “Um, Father?  Is Pennyworth truly not mad at me?”

Bruce stopped and turned, “I told you he wasn’t.  He is a stickler for decorum, but he understands that it isn’t always possible.  You’re only human, Damian.”

Damian snorted, “Mostly.  Full body scan results might tell a different story on that, though.”

Bruce rolled his eyes, “Replaced body parts and genetic engineering aside, you are the same as the rest of us.  You are at a disadvantage right now, too.  You are stuck in the middle of a difficult time for just about all boys.  You are handling it very well, by the way.”

Damian cocked his head, “You mean puberty?”

“Yes, son.  Your body is going through a lot of changes right now.  So is your mind.  You have proven you are able to hold it together in situations that just about no other boy your age has had to face.  Alfred knows what’s going on, and what to expect.  My adolescence was no picnic for him, either, but we made it through that.  We can do it again.”

Damian took a step closer to Bruce and asked, “Are _you_ mad at me, Father?”

Bruce looked confused, “Why would I be mad at you?”

Damian looked at the floor and said, “You requested I improve my behavior several weeks ago.  You even went so far as to propose a bribe in exchange for better actions on my part.  I didn’t do so well today, and there are at least another half dozen incidents in recent weeks that would point to less than ideal behavior.  I…I want to be able to dance with Robin at the party.  Do I still have a chance?”

Bruce smiled and threw an arm around his son, leading him towards the stairs.  “Damian, the party is a week from today.  If you didn’t still have a chance of earning time with your girlfriend, I would have told you by now.  I wouldn’t spring that on you at the last minute.”

Damian gave a relieved sigh as they entered the dining room.  Bruce went to take his seat, but Damian remained standing.  He stared at the door between the kitchen and dining room for a minute before Bruce asked gently, “What is it, son?”

“There’s something I have to do before dinner.  Would you wait here please, Father?”

Bruce followed Damian’s gaze, then looked up at the boy.  “Sure, son.”

Alfred had heard his charges enter the dining room earlier than expected, and rushed to complete preparation of their plates.  He was surprised to turn around and find Damian standing next to the island in the center of the large kitchen.

“Master Damian, is there something I can do for you?”

Damian nodded slightly, “You can forgive me for my inappropriate actions today.  Please?  None of what I said was to be directed at you.  I’m not mad at you, and I’m sorry you had to be subjected to my…unflattering behavior today.”

Alfred tried to look innocent, “Master Damian, I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Damian sighed, “Pennyworth, I believe we understand each other better than that by this point in our relationship.  I know you heard at least part of my rant earlier.  Father told me as much.”

Alfred took a step towards the boy and asked, “And, you went to your room in the hopes that I wouldn’t hear what you said?”

Damian nodded, “Precisely.  You taught me, in your etiquette lessons, that anger such as I displayed today, is best left to times and places where it will not cause you or anyone else embarrassment or hurt feelings.  I…I tried, Pennyworth.”

Alfred said gently, “You didn’t try, Master Damian.  You _did._   You handled yourself in the best way you knew of, and you took what could have been a situation that would have gone badly for you, and turned it into a moment of shining maturity.  You made the right decision today, young sir, and therefore, there is nothing to forgive.”

Damian shot across the remaining distance between them and wrapped his arms tightly around the butler.  Alfred staggered back a step at the force with which he was contacted, and grabbed Damian’s shoulders to steady himself.

Secretly, Damian had meant to hit the butler with enough force to cause the man to hold on out of fear of falling.  Dick had informed Damian that he had developed the ‘attack hug’ as a way to force Alfred to hug him as a boy.  It was a controlled effort on the boy’s part, but the results invariably led to an embrace from the grandfatherly figure.  Right now, that was all that Damian wanted.

“Thank you, Pennyworth.  How do you always know the right thing to say?” Damian whispered.

“Much experience, young sir.  Now, run along.  I will be in with your dinner presently.”

Damian gave an extra squeeze before releasing the butler and heading back to the dining room.  He was stopped at the door by Alfred’s voice.  “By the way, Master Damian.  Master Dick will be glad to hear that you have mastered his signature move.”

Damian blushed hard.  The one thing Dick had mentioned when introducing Damian to the Attack Hug was that Alfred had never seemed to catch on to what was happening.  Now, it seemed that he had been misled.  Instead of commenting, Damian ducked out of the kitchen and returned to the dining room.

“All better now?” Bruce asked when Damian took a seat close to him.

Damian just shrugged as Dick entered the room.  He made his way around the table and wrapped his arms around Damian’s shoulders.  “Sorry, Little D.  It wasn’t a good day today.”

“So I heard.”

Alfred brought two plates in from the kitchen as Damian was released and Dick took a chair next to his brother.  “Master Dick, I’m glad you could be on time for dinner.”

Dick looked confused, “On time?  It’s still early, Alfred.”

“Yes.  You are eating early tonight.”

Dick smirked at the older man.  “Got a hot date tonight, Alfred?”

The butler sniffed as Bruce covered a grin.  Damian said, “It’s my fault.  He wants to make sure that I don’t shrivel up and blow away after skipping lunch today.”

Dick gave a knowing nod and said, “Ah, so this is the full twelve-course meal, then.  Was the earlier meal time planned ahead, and we just didn’t get the message, Alfred?”

“No, young sir.  This was a last minute decision today.  Is there any special reason you are curious?”

Dick shook his head, “No.  Tim might not be too happy, though.  He’s on his way.”

Damian looked a bit guilty and said, “We should wait for him.”

Alfred shook his head, “Nonsense, Master Damian.  Eat, while it is still hot.  I shall keep a plate warm for Master Timothy.  I assume he is planning on showing up closer to seven, Master Dick.”

“That was the plan that I heard,” Dick said.

“Very well.  I shall be right back with your dinner, Master Dick.”

Dick turned to Damian and asked, “So, did Bruce explain everything?”

“Mostly.  Jerry called and explained the audit while Father was trying to explain it.”

Dick looked nervous as he asked, “Are you mad at us?”

Damian was cutting into his pork chops when he said, “I’m mad at _you_.”

Bruce looked up, concerned.  “Damian, I told you.  It was my fault that he didn’t tell you what was going on.  If you should be mad at anyone, it should be me.”

“I’m not mad about that, Father.”  Damian turned and pierced Dick with a withering gaze.  “I was informed today that I have a nickname around the office.  When I think about the name, I realize it only could have come from you, Grayson.”

Dick paled and looked at Bruce, who was wincing.  He tried to play it off, unsuccessfully, “I…I haven’t made up any nicknames for you that have gotten around the office.”

Damian swallowed his bite and said, “They why did Jerry inform me today that the Payroll department has me listed as Wayne Enterprises’ Corporate Mascot?  I’m not supposed to show up on any lists there.”

Dick swallowed hard, earning a pitying stare from Bruce.  “Well, um…in all fairness, you aren’t the only Corporate Mascot.  I held that title for a while, too.  It’s, sort of, a family tradition, like being Robin.”

Damian sighed, “You know, when Father told me I would have to face down office adversity, I didn’t figure that it would all be coming from you.  You are the only person I have come across in that whole building who gives me a hard time.  Everyone else treats me just as Father said they would.  They don’t care that I’m there, so long as they get their mail delivered on time.  Why is it that you, the one who should probably be helping me the most, is the one causing me the most problems?”

Dick looked like he was deep in thought, and didn’t seem to have heard Damian’s question.  “That could actually work for us.  In the future, if you’re caught there wearing a Wayne Enterprises shirt, we can play you off as the Corporate Mascot.  We can claim it is a joke title for when Bruce brings you in to work.  It would explain you having a permanent access badge, instead of a visitor badge.”

Damian’s eyes bulged in his head.  “I’m trying to be taken seriously there, Grayson,” Damian snapped.  “It’s hard enough getting my job done while being six inches shorter than the next shortest mailroom employee.  I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I couldn’t pass for eighteen even if I was on stilts, with a bag over my head.  How am I supposed to make my own place at work, without relying on Father’s name, when you keep throwing roadblocks in my way?”

Dick cocked his head, “What’s wrong with relying on Bruce’s name?”

“I don’t want people thinking the only reason I’m there is because my father has an office on the top floor.  Yes, it’s just a temporary job for the summer, and Father is ostensibly the only reason I am there, but that doesn’t mean I don’t take it seriously.  Jerry seems to be happy that I’m there, and my coworkers like the fact that I am taking what we do seriously.  I pull my weight, Grayson.  I want this to be a successful experiment.”

Dick looked at the boy soberly, “I’m sorry, Damian.  I know you’re holding up your end of the bargain.  Bruce is probably going to get mad at me for saying this, but you have been noticed around the building, and all of the comments I have heard have been positive, even before they know you are a young Wayne.  If it makes it any easier, I only applied that name to you because you’ve earned it.  You are what the company stands for; making things better for the future generations.  That is where Wayne Enterprises is going, and you are making a good impression on those around you.  Besides, you really shouldn’t be mad at me for the Corporate Mascot title.  I didn’t make it up.”

Bruce looked surprised at that fact and asked, “Well, then, who did?”

Dick smiled and said, “I was sitting in your outer office one day after school, when I was a couple years younger than Damian.  It was a Friday, and I had worn a Wayne Enterprises jacket that I found in your closet to school that day.  Jean saw me, and asked if I was here to apply for the job of Corporate Mascot.  She said I would make a good one.  From that time, until I started actually working at the company, she called me ‘our little Corporate Mascot’.  I just thought it was time that title got passed on to another.  You have to admit, Bruce, it fits.”

Bruce was trying to hide a grin behind a forkful of salad.  When Damian wasn’t looking, Bruce nodded at Dick.  Damian grumbled, “I should have retrieved my tennis ball before this conversation.  I could make good use of it right now.”

The conversation switched to other topics for the rest of the meal.  Tim came in just as dessert was served, and immediately checked his watch, the time on his cell phone, and the grandfather clock just outside of the dining room (a working one, not the secret passageway to the Bat-Cave).

He looked at the dining trio with confusion on his face, “Um…you do know that it isn’t seven yet, right?”

Damian looked up with a smirk and said, “I told them we should wait for you, but they said no.”

“Have a seat, Tim.  Dick told us that you would be late,” Bruce said.

Tim took a seat next to Bruce and said, “You could have called me, Dick.  I would have been here on time.”

Alfred entered, carrying a fresh plate and setting it in front of the newest diner.  “You are on time, Master Timothy. Everyone else was just early.  Rest assured, it is no trouble at all.”

“Thanks, Alfred.  What a day.  I’m starved.”  Tim dug in to his pork chops with no further need to be asked.

“Did the auditors make it to the Foundation floor yet?”  Bruce asked.

Tim swallowed, “Not yet, but we’re ready for them.  The audit we had a couple months ago set us up in good stead for this one.  It really helps that we were already preparing for the planned audit in a couple weeks.  Say, Bruce, you don’t know if this one will take the place of that one, do you?”

Bruce shook his head, “I doubt it.  That one was planned well in advance.  This one is a surprise OSHA audit.”

Tim nodded, “So, that’s who they are.  Rumors are flying all over the building about who is actually auditing us this time.”

Damian looked a bit guilty as he said, “Father, you don’t suppose that my presence triggered this audit, do you?”

Bruce looked like he hadn’t considered that option.  “What do you mean, son?”

“You don’t suppose someone saw an obviously underage mail clerk and reported it to these OSHA people?  Everyone I’ve met in the building so far has been nice, but that doesn’t mean that someone I haven’t met isn’t disgruntled, or concerned about child labor laws.”

Bruce, Dick, and Tim all looked at each other with matching wide eyes.  Bruce said introspectively, “I hadn’t considered that.  To be honest, that is exactly what I expect my employees to do; see something wrong and report it, for the good of the company.”

Tim shook his head, “I guess someone was paying attention during those ‘See something, Say Something’ in-services.  What should we do about this, Bruce?”

Dick said, “I can’t believe that one of our employees would do that without going to a supervisor first.  I guess you need to be a bit more covert in the future, Damian.”

Bruce said, “Well, what we aren’t going to do is make wild assumptions before the audit results are in.  I’ll come up with some sort of excuse if your presence really is the cause of the audit.  They will tell us why they were called out during the final briefing after the audit.”

Damian looked concerned, “If it is because of me, Father, then I can’t go back there.  If I show up again after the auditors are gone, and another complaint gets filed, won’t it look bad for the company if we get another audit so soon after the first one?”

Bruce placed a hand gently on Damian’s forearm, as it rested on the tabletop.  “You let me worry about that, Damian.  You have done everything that’s been asked of you to the best of your ability.  This isn’t your fault, son.  If someone is complaining about a child working for us, then I’ll just find something else for you to do, out of the public eye.”

“But…” Damian trailed off.

“But what, son?”

“It’s just…I like what I’m doing.  I…I don’t want this to be over yet.”

Bruce gave a warm smile and said, “You don’t know how happy I am to hear that.  Let’s get through this audit first, then make these decisions, okay?”

Damian still looked concerned, “They started the audit in the mail room.  How can it not be about me?  I’m sorry, Father.  I shouldn’t go back to work.”

“We’ll get through the audit first, then make decisions.  For now, you should just think about what you’re going to do with your free week.”

Damian’s expression finally shifted from concerned to crafty.  “Since this is not a school week, and no longer a work week, then I can see no reason that I shouldn’t be able to join you on patrol every night this week.”

Bruce smiled and said, “I can.  While the auditors are in the building, you cannot be there.  I, on the other hand, should be nowhere but there.  For that matter, Dick and Tim should be spending a lot more time at the office, as well.  There is no reason for any of the three of us to not make it to work for the next week.  That means that all patrols this week will be cut short.  We just can’t risk any injuries keeping us from the office, and we can’t appear to be tired in front of the auditors.  I can’t show up for a meeting with the inspectors with a limp, or in a cast.  Neither can I spend entire meetings yawning.”

Damian looked confused, “Why, Father?”

“If I go into a meeting with the OSHA auditors looking like I’m half asleep, they will assume that I’m losing sleep over something.  They will conclude that we are trying to hide something from them, and will look that much harder.  This is the first audit Wayne Enterprises has ever had where we actually are hiding something, but we can’t have any outward indication of that.  That means I have to show up every day this week in a crisply pressed suit with a smile on my face.  No outward injuries, no bags under my eyes.  Same goes for Dick and Tim.  In fact, what we will most likely do for this week is very short rounds, or no rounds at all, and just watch for the signal.”

Damian regained the crafty look again and said, “That is all the more reason to allow me extended patrol time this week.  We can do the car patrol that you are suggesting, and when we come across something, I can get out and take care of it.  You wouldn’t even have to get out of the car, Father.”

Dick tried to hold in his laugh, but couldn’t stop a snort from escaping his throat.  Tim kicked him under the table while Damian turned and glared.  “Something funny about my plan, Grayson?”

Dick shook his head, unable to meet Damian’s gaze.  Tim rolled his eyes and said, “You just sounded a bit eager, Damian, is all.  I know for a fact that you can handle anything Gotham throws at you.  These two, however, are very overprotective, as you know.  They just don’t want you getting hurt.”

“What he said,” Dick said, his tone full of mirth.

Damian turned to Bruce and said, “You know I can do this, Father.  Plus, I don’t have to be seen anywhere until the party on Monday.  It won’t matter if I get injured, just so long as you don’t.”

Bruce’s nostrils flared, “Uh, yeah.  It matters a lot.  I know you can handle your plan, but I’m not going to sacrifice you to the streets again.  I almost lost you out there once…”

“More than once,” Damian interrupted softly.

Bruce ignored the statement, even though it caused an ache in his stomach, “It may not matter to you if you get hurt, but it matters to me.  A lot.”

A strange, warm feeling settled in Damian’s gut.  He couldn’t readily identify it, but he had noticed it occurring more often the more he opened up to his family.  _There is that strange feeling again.  It’s not entirely unpleasant, just…unfamiliar.  It happens in these kinds of moments.  I used to only notice it around Grayson, but it’s different when I’m around Father.  I…I like it.  I want it to happen more often._

Bruce just gazed contentedly at his son.  _I wonder what he’s thinking about.  He looks like he’s trying to understand something, but he looks…happy._

“O-okay, Father.  We’ll do it your way.”

Bruce smirked, “Yours wasn’t a bad idea, Damian.  If it’s a slow enough night, we might try it out. 

_Later That Night…_

Following a very slow patrol, during which Bruce had made true his promise and tried allowing Damian to handle specific, small threats on his own, they returned home to allow the elder Wayne’s adequate rest before another day at the audit.

Damian’s mind returned to the gut feeling he experienced during dinner, and twice during patrol, as he lay in bed, staring at the ceiling.  Tossing and turning hadn’t worked, and he realized that he just wasn’t tired.  His mind was just too wound up to allow him to sleep.  He decided to do something about it.

Padding silently across the hall, Damian entered Bruce’s bedroom and approached the sleeping man.  He stopped seven feet from the bed and regarded the unconscious form of his Father.  _I really shouldn’t wake him.  He needs to be well rested for work tomorrow.  My issues can wait until tomorrow night.  It wasn’t a bad feeling, I just don’t have a word to describe it.  It’s frustrating me, but I can deal with frustration.  I’ve dealt with it all my life, I should be good at it by now.  It’s decided, I can wait._

Damian turned to extricate himself from the room as silently as he entered.  As soon as his back was to his father, he heard a soft rustling sound from the bed.  _What the hell?  I haven’t made a sound louder than a breath since I entered the room.  How could I have woken him?_

Damian turned his head to look back at the bed.  Bruce, eyes still closed, was holding the blankets up, inviting the boy to lay down.  Damian hesitated for another second before Bruce breathed out, “Well?  Are you going to lay down?”

Damian turned back to the bed and climbed under the blankets, his feet moving of their own accord.  Father and son lay side by side, until Bruce pulled Damian tight against him.  The boy’s head rested on Bruce’s shoulder, and he could feel the warmth settling in his stomach again.  In the dark, a grin crossed his lips.

“Bad dream, son?”

“No, Father,” Damian whispered.  “I…it’s nothing.”

A hidden smile crossed Bruce’s face in the dark, “It must be something to get you to come to me at three in the morning.  It must be serious to get you to come to me at all.  Usually you take all your problems to Dick.”

“It’s not a problem, Father.  Anyway, Grayson told me I should be reaching out to others, instead of just him all the time.”

A contented sigh escaped Bruce’s lips.  “I’m glad you felt you could come to me, Damian.  Since you’re here, what can I help you with?”

Damian closed his eyes, trying to come up with the words to describe his predicament.  Finally, he said, “I’ve been having this strange feeling lately, a-around you, mostly.  I can’t describe it, really.”

Sounding a bit concerned, Bruce said, “Why don’t you try?  It doesn’t have to be a perfect description, just do the best you can.”

The feeling intensified in his gut as Damian thought about it.  “I’m feeling it now, Father.  I can’t explain it.  It’s in my stomach, but it spreads all over sometimes.”

“Gas?” Bruce asked, hiding a laugh.

“Tt.  No, Father.”

“When else have you felt it?”

Damian turned his head on Bruce’s shoulder.  His hair brushed against Bruce’s ear with a light tickle.  “I felt it at dinner, when you told me you didn’t want me to get hurt.  I felt it again on patrol, after we stopped the carjacking, and you told me you were proud of me.  I…I’ve felt it other times, when we’ve been together, too.”

Bruce sighed happily.  “Do you have this feeling when you are around anyone else?”

The boy thought for a minute.  When he answered, his voice sounded a bit smaller.  “Well, around Grayson, but it’s different somehow.  I felt something similar around Drake, when we were freezing on the streets, and he was trying to keep me out of the wind, and a couple other times at the school, and since.  I…I feel it a lot around Robin, too, but that feels…I don’t know.  It’s different, but the same.”

“Okay.  How would you describe this feeling?  Give me one word that sums it up for you.”

Damian was silent long enough that Bruce thought he might have fallen asleep.  Finally, the youth whispered, “Warm.  It feels warm, like the sun is shining from the inside out.”

“Do you like this feeling, son?” Bruce asked, his voice little more than a whisper.

“Yes, Father.  I like it.  It’s almost intoxicating.  Is it wrong of me to say I want more of it?”

Bruce smiled, “Not at all, my boy.”

Damian huffed, “Well, what is it, Father?”

Bruce turned his head and kissed Damian’s forehead softly before saying, “I love you too, son.”

Damian’s eyes widened at those five words.  _Love?  Did he say love?  Is that what I’ve been feeling?  Is that what love feels like?  Huh.  I never would have thought that was what it was.  I guess that answers my question.  It is an appropriate descriptor for the feeling.  It feels_ right _.  I guess I do love this family, after all.  I didn’t know I had it in me.  Strange, though.  Why did I never have this feeling before coming here?_

“Damian?”

Shaking himself out of his thoughts, Damian inched closer to his father and said, “Thank you, Father.  That seems to be an adequate description of what’s going on.”

Bruce laughed good-naturedly.  “Glad I could answer your question, son.  I would have thought getting an answer would have provided some relief for you, but you seem like you’re still troubled.  Tell me about it, Damian.”

Damian sighed, “Once you said it, I realized that is exactly what I’ve been feeling.  However, it raised another question for me.  You see, I can remember my entire life, almost all the way back to my birth.  Genetic engineering will do that.  My first clear memories are of when I was just a few weeks old.  In all that time, I can’t remember feeling this way until I came to live here.  Why do I have no memories like this of my time living with Talia?”

Bruce sighed.  He had hoped that was not what was bothering his son.  “Damian, there is no good answer to that question.  At least, none that will allow you to get to sleep tonight.  Suffice it to say, your mother had a much harder upbringing, and she raised you the only way she knew how.”

Damian’s voice sounded watery as he whispered, “She didn’t love me, did she.”

“Did you love her?”

“I thought I did, but it never felt like this.  It was never…warm.”

Bruce wrapped his son in his arms and said, “There are many kinds of love.  Just because the love you have for your mother is different than the love you expressed having for us…”

“For you, Father,” Damian interrupted.

“…Doesn’t mean it isn’t love.  I can’t answer whether Talia loved you or not.  However, given everything that has happened, just how much do you really need that assurance?”

Damian thought for a second before grabbing hold of his father tightly.  “Are you going to let me go?”

“Not any time soon, son.  Not until you’re ready.” Bruce’s arms tightened around his son.

Damian snuggled into his father’s warm frame and closed his eyes.  “Not everyone will find someone who loves them.  I’ve found several.  You told me that it’s better to live with the ones we have than lament the ones we’ve lost.  I can do without that assurance for now, since you’ve given me something much more.”

Bruce smiled as his eyes closed, feeling completed with the boy wrapped in his arms.  “Good night, Damian.”

“Good night, Father.”

The room was silent for several minutes before Damian took a deep breath and said, “Father?”

“Yes, son,” Bruce slurred out, half asleep.

“I love you, too.”

_Tuesday…_

Damian settled himself at the breakfast bar in the kitchen, the warm feelings from the previous night giving him his first nightmare-free sleep in years.  A soft smile remained on his face as he watched the butler bustle around the kitchen.

“I know you’re there, Master Damian.  I’m not ignoring you, just preparing for a busy day.”

Damian cocked his head, “I didn’t think you were ignoring me, Pennyworth.  It’s not like I have anywhere else to be today, I can wait until you’re ready.”

Alfred stopped in his tracks and raised his head.  There was genuine warmth in the boy’s voice.  _I must have misjudged his intentions when I found him in Master Bruce’s bed this morning.  He sounds happy._

The butler caught Damian peering over the counter at the box he had been carrying into the kitchen.  “What are you doing, Pennyworth?” He asked with true curiosity in his voice.

“I am starting preparations for next Monday’s party.  I realized there is quite a bit more to do for this party than normal, so I need to get a jump on it.  However, that will not prevent me from caring for my normal duties, Master Damian.  Now, what can I fix you for breakfast?”

Damian shook his head, “I don’t want to create more work for you.  I’m fine with something simple.”

Alfred smiled at what he thought was a caring tone in the boy’s voice.  “Would a bowl of cereal be alright with you, then?”

“So long as it isn’t that sugary monstrosity that Grayson forces you to buy.  I don’t know how he can eat that stuff.”

Hiding a smile as he turned to the cupboard, Alfred said, “Right, not a fan of Frosted Flakes or Lucky Charms, then.  How about this one?  Your father swears by it.”

Damian took the blue box and read the front.  _If Father likes it, it can’t be that bad._ “Crispix?  What kind of name is Crispix?”

While Damian was reading the box, Alfred had set a bowl, spoon, and carton of milk in front of the boy.  “You can always try it and find out.  If you will excuse me, I really do have a lot to do today.  I trust you will be alright for a few minutes alone?”

“Sure, Pennyworth,” Damian said distractedly, as he poured himself a bowl of the hexagonally-shaped cereal and started eating.

Alfred went about his preparations, quickly losing himself in lists and procedures.  He was so caught up that only the sound of the sink running in the kitchen was able to distract him from his chores.  He re-entered the kitchen to find that half an hour had passed since the last time he had moved.

Damian was standing at the sink, washing his breakfast dishes, when Alfred came up behind him.  “You didn’t need to do that, Master Damian.  I would have taken care of it.”

The boy was loading the dishwasher as he said, “Nonsense, Pennyworth.  You made it clear that you are very busy today.  I ate out of them; it’s only fair that I wash them.”

Alfred smiled, wiping down the counter.  “Very well, but don’t make a habit of it, young sir.  I do have certain duties around here.  That is one of them.  Tell me, how are you going to spend your free week?  Have you come up with any plans of what you would like to do?”

Damian leaned back against the counter and shrugged.  “I haven’t really thought about it too much.  Every time I do, I come to the realization that the only reason I have this free week is because I screwed up at work, somehow.  Father told me that I had to be stealthy, and to try not to be seen by as many people as possible.  I didn’t do that, Pennyworth.  I liked what I was doing, and the people I was meeting were all friendly and supportive.  I must have been seen by the wrong person, or something.  It doesn’t matter what Father tries to convince me of, I know that my employment at Wayne Enterprises triggered this audit.”

Alfred rounded the island and placed his hands on Damian’s shoulders.  Damian lifted his gaze and met Alfred’s eyes.  “Then why don’t you find something fun and distracting to do, to keep your mind off of the audit?”

Damian sighed, “I wish my mind worked that way, Pennyworth.  I don’t get distracted easily.  I perseverate on problems until they’re solved.  That’s how Talia programmed me to be.  I literally and physically can’t turn it off.  It really doesn’t help that I found my work to be fun and distracting.  I liked what I was doing, Pennyworth.  I wish it wasn’t over now.”

Alfred shook his head and said, “I wish there was some way I could help you, Master Damian, but nothing is coming to mind right now.”

Damian smirked up at the man, “It’s okay, Pennyworth.  You don’t always have to have the answer to everything.  Your track record is good enough that the occasional lack is more than made up for.”

Alfred cracked a smile.  “Why don’t you go get dressed, Master Damian?  I have to run some errands in a bit.  Will you be okay to stay here by yourself while I’m out?”

Damian sounded a bit sheepish as he looked down and said, “I…I don’t really have anything else to do.  I could…I mean, if it’s okay with you…I could go with?  Unless you don’t want me to.”

Alfred smiled and said, “I figured you would want to do something else, but if you would like to join me, I would be honored to have you along.”

That brought the smile back to Damian’s face, along with another warm feeling to his gut.  “Perhaps, when we get back, I can help you with some of your preparations for the party?  We seemed to work well together in getting the Manor set up for the Spring Party.  I promise I won’t run away this time.”

“I do have an awful lot to do this time around.  I would be grateful for any help you would be willing to offer.”

Damian nodded and left to get dressed, thinking about the new plan.  _Father did say that I would be helping Pennyworth with any party preparations if I chose the homeschooling route.  Why should this be any different?  Keeping busy might just have the effect of taking my mind off of the audit.  I have found in the past that domestic labor is calming, soothing, and just hard enough to keep me occupied.  If Pennyworth is saying there is a lot to do, there must be more than enough to keep me occupied for the rest of the week.  Huh, he had the answer after all._

Damian joined Alfred for trips to finalize the rental of tables and chairs, and to several markets to make various food purchases.  The youth made himself useful as much as he could, carrying parcels and assisting in any way he could.

After returning to the manor, Alfred busied himself in the kitchen, storing the day’s purchases and trying to plan his next move in his preparations.  Bustling about, and in his own world, Alfred didn’t notice that Damian was just standing in the kitchen.

Alfred brought another box into the space and stopped when he saw Damian leaning against the counter.  “My apologies, Master Damian.  Is there something I can do for you?  Would you care for a snack, or something?”

Damian shook his head, “It’s a little early for lunch yet.  I actually thought there might be something I could do for you.  You said you had a busy week ahead of you.  I…I don’t.  It seems like a waste for me to just sit around, when you’re running around.  I propose we split the work.”

Alfred stared at Damian like he had never seen the boy before.  “I would be most appreciative of that, Master Damian.  Is there anything in particular that you would like to do?”

“No, Pennyworth, just whatever will help lighten the load.  You said you made a list of chores that have to be completed before the party.  Why don’t you just tear it in half and give me one of the halves?”

Alfred smiled, “I don’t need to tear anything, Master Damian.  I have already split the list into what I figured I would be able to do in a day.  I have a list for every day of the week.  I suppose I can give you one of them.”

Damian smiled at the butler and took the list that Alfred offered up to him.  It consisted mostly of general house cleaning items.  “That looks doable, Pennyworth.”

Damian turned to leave the kitchen when Alfred said, “I will be very pleased if you are able to accomplish just that one list.  Take your time, Master Damian.  There is no rush in completing any of those items.  And, thank you.  Your offer of assistance is most appreciated.”

Damian nodded and left the kitchen, thinking to himself.  _Pennyworth said he has a list for every day this week.  Completing this will only free up a little time for him.  I’m going to finish this list today.  It’s a lot of cleaning, but I can probably get it all done before Father gets home.  If I work really fast, I might even be able to make dinner, freeing up more of Pennyworth’s time.  No, if I don’t do a good job on these chores, Pennyworth will either feel he needs to do them again, or feel like I don’t want to help him.  Fast and good seems to be the order of the day._

Soon, boy and butler were in their own worlds of work.  They didn’t run across each other until Damian stopped for a break in the middle of the afternoon.  Both had been so caught up that they skipped lunch altogether.  Damian was sweating when he found Alfred sitting in the kitchen, having a cup of tea.  Alfred, realizing he hadn’t provided for Damian’s lunch, silently poured a cup of tea for Damian, and pulled out the tin of cookies that were usually reserved for after patrol snacks.

They sat at the butler’s small table in the kitchen, restoring their strength.  Damian placed his list of chores on the table, and Alfred couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw how many items were crossed out.  _Surely he hasn’t gotten through that much of the list in just the few hours he has been working?  I fully expected that list to take him at least two days.  It looks like he’s planning on getting it all done today.  I will have to make a quick trip through to inspect his work.  However, if it is anything like the job he did on the third floor, I probably don’t have to look that closely._

After draining his second cup of tea, Damian stood and stretched.  He put his list back in his pocket, shoved another cookie in his mouth, and exited the kitchen.  Alfred smiled.  Today’s tea had been completed in total silence, yet just having another present with him made him feel like he had just had a stimulating conversation.  It gave him the energy to get back to his own work.

Bruce and Dick walked through the front door of Stately Wayne Manor a full hour later than normal.  The audit seemed to be going well, but it was adding extra meetings to the day, and pushing normal work to the side, to be completed in spare moments.

Bruce sighed, but wasn’t surprised to not be met at the door by Alfred.  “I wonder if today was any better on the home front.”

Dick looked around.  He was surprised by the butler’s absence.  “I hope so.  Where do you suppose Alfred is?”

“He told me he was starting party preparations today.  He said the house is in dismal shape, and there will be more than enough to keep him busy for the rest of the week.”

Dick smirked, “Maybe we should order a pizza, then?”

Bruce laughed, “I thought he told you to never utter that word in this house?  Seriously, though, I think I should talk to Damian tonight and ask that he help Alfred out a bit.  Maybe I can add it on to his bribe, and tell him that if he wants to see Robin, he needs to help Alfred get ready for the party.”

Dick shook his head, “That’s mean, Bruce.  Still, holding her over his head will motivate him.  However, I don’t think you will have to be that persuasive with him.  We talked about this while in Florida.”

Bruce smiled and said, “Holding Robin over his head will either motivate him, or cause him to try to look up her skirt.”

Dick just shook his head, “Bruce, sometimes you’re just bad.”

“Hey!  What the hell, take your shoes off!  I just finished mopping that.”

Bruce and Dick looked around, but saw no one.  The entryway was empty.  What’s more, the voice that called out to them wasn’t Alfred’s.  Dick finally nudged Bruce and pointed up the stairs.  Three-quarters of the way up the staircase stood Damian, a rag in one hand and a can of wood polish in the other.

Bruce regarded his boy, not believing what he saw.  “Damian?  What’s going…”

Damian interrupted, “Do you know how long it takes to sweep and mop the entry hallway, from the front door to the kitchen?  Take your shoes off, or you can go over it again and fix what you messed up.”

Bruce and Dick still stood, staring.  Damian finally rolled his eyes and called out, “Pennyworth!”

Alfred came in from the kitchen.  “Is something the matter, Master Damian?  Oh, good evening Master Bruce, Master Dick.”

“Pennyworth, make them take their shoes off!  I’m not mopping that again if they mess it up.”

Bruce and Dick got the hint, and were removing their footwear.  Alfred looked up at the boy and asked, “You already finished the entryway, Master Damian?  You are making excellent progress on your list.  Are you polishing the bannister now?”

Damian smiled, “Last item on the list you gave me, Pennyworth.”

“Did you start at the top, or the bottom?”

“The bottom, like you told me.”

Alfred leaned over the railing to inspect the work.  He could see his reflection in the Newel post and smiled at himself.  “Very well.  Dinner might be a few minutes late, Master Wayne.  Thanks to party preparations, I got a late start.”

Bruce was suspicious about what was going on.  “Was it _just_ party preparations that threw you off schedule?”

“Yes, sir,” Alfred said, knowing what Bruce was thinking, “We made a couple extra stops while out ordering the food.  There were a few new shops that have opened in the Merchant District since the last time I was there.  I wanted to compare prices.”

Damian had resumed polishing the wood of the bannister as Dick started to climb the stairs to go and change.  Damian looked up and growled, “Place one finger on that bannister and you’ll lose it, Grayson.”

Dick smiled as he reached Damian before bending down and kissing the top of his head.  He whispered, “You remembered what we talked about, didn’t you?”

Damian replied, just as quietly, “If I had chosen homeschooling instead of going to work, I would have been doing this anyways.  I needed something to take my mind off of the audit, and Pennyworth doesn’t need to be doing all of this, on top of everything else he does.”

“That’s my boy.”

While Dick and Damian were whispering to each other, Alfred and Bruce were having their own quiet conversation.  “You assigned him chores, Alfred?  What did he do today to deserve that?”

Turning his back on the stairs, Alfred murmured, “He did the worst thing imaginable, Master Bruce.  He asked for them.”

Bruce’s eyes widened, “He _asked_ to do chores?”

“I explained to him that this was to be a busy week for me, with the party preparations.  He stated he had nothing else to do, and offered his assistance.  Personally, I thought the list of chores I gave him would last several days, but it seems he has accomplished all of them today.  I shall have to come up with something new for him to do tomorrow.”

“And, he hasn’t complained about doing housework?”

Alfred smiled, “On the contrary.  I have barely heard a word out of him all day.  Seems he is convinced that the audit at Wayne Enterprises is his fault.  He wanted something to take his mind off of it.  From past experience, I have noticed that he is quite adept at domestic labor, so he got a list of chores heavy in house cleaning.  It seems to have cleared his mind somewhat.”

Bruce gave a small grimace.  “Well, too bad that won’t last long.  Early reports point to the audit being triggered due to improper employment practices.  They were in payroll all day today, looking over employment rosters.  I don’t know if they got to the list of access badges, but it _is_ possible to find Damian’s name on that list.  He might have been right.  Someone from payroll might have filed the complaint that triggered the audit.  They might actually be looking for Damian.”

Alfred’s jaw dropped, “Oh, no.  That will crush the boy.  He is anticipating going back to work next week.”

“It’s just a supposition at this point, Alfred.  Thanks for trying to help him, though.  He will be going back to work; we just might have to find him a different job.”

Alfred spoke up, “Dinner will be ready in fifteen minutes, if you would care to get changed, Master Bruce.”

“Sure, Alfred.”

Bruce began climbing the stairs, not thinking about what he was doing, until he heard, “Father!”

“What?”

Bruce looked down and saw the smudged trail he had left on the bannister as he trailed his hand through the fresh wax.  Grimacing, he watched as Damian descended the stairs and handed him the rag.

Bruce took it and wiped at the wax on his hand, “Sorry, son.  Thanks.”

Damian rolled his eyes, “The rag wasn’t to wipe off your hand.  Fix that.  I’ve been polishing this railing for the last twenty minutes.  I’d like to complete it before dinner, without having to start over.”

Bruce winced and wiped away his hand prints.  He glanced up the stairs at the sound of Dick’s laughter.  “Why aren’t you mad at him?  He’s touching the railing.”

Damian looked up at where Dick was leaning against the bannister.  “I haven’t gotten that far yet.  I started at the bottom and worked up.  He isn’t touching something that’s been waxed yet.”

Bruce looked sheepish, “Sorry, son.”

He moved off to join Dick at the top of the stairs.  Damian called out, “Father, Grayson, just so we don’t have this problem again when you come down for dinner, take the elevator.”

_Wednesday…_

Damian found a plate of waffles waiting for him when he ambled into the kitchen on Wednesday morning.  He sat down, and was about to start eating when Alfred walked into the kitchen.

“Pennyworth, not that I’m complaining, because they smell wonderful, but why did you take the time to make waffles, with as busy as your schedule is this week?”

Alfred just smiled at Damian and said, “I took a few minutes to look over the chores you were so kind to complete for me yesterday.  I’m impressed, Master Damian.  Each and every one was done to my satisfaction.  With the amount of time you have given back to me, since I don’t have to do the hours of chores you took care of, I had a few spare minutes to try to make up for the meals you missed yesterday.”

Damian smiled at the family confidant and said, “Thank you, Pennyworth.  What is on the agenda for today?”

Alfred pulled his stack of lists from his pocket and said, “Well, let’s see.  I suppose I should take care of this other list of household chores.  There are several loads of laundry that need to be completed, and I must press a couple of your father’s suits, so he can look his best for the auditors.”

Damian swallowed a bite of waffle with a soft moan of pleasure before saying, “I meant, what is on _my_ agenda today?”

“Whatever you wish to be on your agenda today, young sir.”

Damian reached over and snatched a list at random from Alfred’s hand and said, “Then, I guess I’m doing this today.”

Alfred shook his head, “I’m afraid not, young sir.”

Damian looked up, “Why not?  I thought I was helping you get ready for the party?”

The butler smiled and said, “Like I said yesterday, I appreciate any help you choose to offer.  However, the list you grabbed is all items that cannot be done yet.  That list is describing how I want the tables to be set up, and the tables won’t be delivered from the rental store until Friday.”

Damian blushed, “Oh.”  He handed the list back and asked, “Which list can be done today?”

Alfred looked at the set of lists critically, like a gambler looking at the cards in his hand.  He finally, hesitantly, pulled a list from the deck and said, “This one is fairly labor intensive; I hesitate in giving it to you.  I don’t wish for you to think I’m trying to take advantage of you.  It is something that must be done, and I believe it is something you will be interested in making sure is done right.”

Damian reached for the list, saying, “I don’t care how hard it is, Pennyworth.  You wouldn’t even consider giving it to me if you thought it was something that I couldn’t do.”  He looked at the list to find only one item listed.  He looked up, confused, “Ballroom?”

“Yes, Master Damian.  The dance floor in the ballroom is looking dreadful.  I realized that it has been several years since it has been properly maintained.  The wood needs to be stripped of the old wax, sanded, re-waxed, and buffed.  Given the size of the dance floor, I had planned to take a whole day tomorrow to take care of it.”

Damian smiled, “I can see why you thought I would be interested in taking care of that.  You’re right.  If I’m going to dance with Robin at the party, I want the best place possible to do it.  Leave it to me, Pennyworth.  Um…just one thing, though.  How do I do all that stuff you just said?”

Alfred matched the youth’s smile.  “Finish your breakfast, then I will show you.”

Following the meal, Alfred had Damian go to a storage closet and bring back a yellow, rolling bucket full of cleaning materials and mops.  When he returned, Alfred started explaining the chore.

“Now, pay attention, Master Damian.  This has to be done in a precise order, and certain steps are time sensitive.  Done in the wrong order, or if you take too long completing a certain step, you run the risk of ruining the whole floor.  Now, the first thing to be done is to sweep and mop the floor.  The surface needs to be clean in order for the stripper to work most effectively.”

Damian looked a bit confused, “Wait.  There are going to be strippers?  What kind of party is this?”

Alfred smiled and shook his head, “I see you are spending more time around Master Jason.  You really shouldn’t let him influence you like that, Master Damian.  I am talking about the floor stripper.  After you allow the floor to dry, once it has been mopped, you apply the wax stripper.  Don’t let it sit for more than five minutes after application, or it will eat into the wood.  Please, Master Damian, there are rubber gloves and eye protection in the bucket.  Make use of them, this is a caustic substance.”

Damian smirked, “Can’t be any more dangerous than Father’s cooking?  We barely survived that week when you were gone.”

Alfred rolled his eyes, “Please follow the instructions on the bottle to the letter.  I cannot justify the cost of a new dance floor in this month’s budget, and there is no way to get a new one installed before the party, so you are really doing yourself a favor in following the directions.  Now, given the size of the floor, it is not possible to start at one end of the floor and properly apply the stripper to the entire floor before the area you began with needs to have the stripper removed, so you will have to do it in sections.  I have found sectioning the floor off in ten square foot increments works the best.  Each floor tile is one foot square, so just count ten by ten and mark that out as your work area.

“Once the wax has been stripped from the entire floor, give it another good sweeping, just to make sure you have removed all of the stripper.  After that, you need to give the floor a light sanding.  Just do enough to give the wax something to hold on to, and remember to sand with the grain of the wood.  That will give it the best possible finish.  Now, this is important.  Once you have finished sanding, you must remove all of the dust before moving on to applying the wax.  There is a Shop Vac in the closet where you got the bucket.  Please use it.  A broom just won’t cut it.

“Now, follow the instructions on the wax bottle carefully.  If it is not applied correctly, the finish will look hazy, and you will have to start over.  We are looking for a shiny wood tone when you are completed.  I will leave it to you as to how many coats of wax you feel are enough to do the job, but too few and the floor will be rough.  Too many, and the floor will be too slick, and we run the risk of people slipping and falling.  Just between you and I, there are several of the older socialites that I wouldn’t mind seeing taken down a peg or two through an embarrassing slip and fall, but your father would not be happy with the lawsuits and medical bills that are sure to follow.  Now, do you have any questions?”

Damian looked at the older man for a minute, going over the steps in his head.  Smiling evilly, he said, “What was the first step again?”

Alfred sighed and shook his head, “While I am glad you are spending time around your brothers, you must remember to be your own person.  Master Dick will be happy to hear that you are following his sense of humor so closely.  Any _real_ questions, Master Damian?”

Damian thought for a second, then asked, “Do we have a sander, or a sanding block?”

“Now that is a real question.  There is a fine grit sanding block in the closet with the vacuum.  Also, should you run out of stripper or wax, there are spare bottles in there as well.  Please take your time in doing this.  I know you have never done anything like this before, and there really is no rush.”

Damian nodded, “Where will you be, if I need you?”

“The laundry room, mostly.  I will be washing the linens for the party, and tending to your father’s suits.  If I am not there, then try the supply closets.  I will also be taking inventory of supplies needed for the party.”

Damian looked around and said, “Well, I guess I should get started, then.”

Alfred turned to leave, but stopped at the door and said, “When you start stripping the floor, be sure to turn the fans on.  You might consider opening a window or two, as well.  The smell can be quite strong.”

“I will, Pennyworth.”

That was the last Alfred saw or heard from the boy for several hours.  When he passed by on his way to the kitchen to make lunch, he looked in and saw Damian, in large gloves and wearing goggles, scraping up a patch of floor stripper in the middle of the dance floor.  He could tell by the patterns of light shining on the floor that Damian had started in one corner, and was working his way across in an even pattern.  Damian had covered just slightly less than half of the floor in the few hours he had been working.

When Alfred came back, several minutes later, Damian was looking at his cell phone.  Alfred smiled and said, “Text message, Master Damian?”

Damian started at the surprise of hearing another voice.  “Stopwatch.  I have another minute and a half before this section is ready for the stripper to come off.”

Alfred nodded and said, “Well, when you are done with that section, get cleaned up.  Lunch is ready.”

Damian looked at the butler strangely, “Lunch?  It can’t be lunch time already.  I’ve only been working for…” He checked the time on his phone, and his eyes widened, “Oh, three and a half hours.”

Alfred smiled and said, “Time flies, Master Damian,” before walking out of the ballroom.

Like tea the previous day, lunch was completed mostly in silence.  Just before Damian was ready to go back to work, Alfred said, “I see you are making good progress, and will be finished in just a few more hours.  Come see me before you start waxing the floor, so I can teach you how to use the electric floor buffer.”

“Yes, Pennyworth.”

Several hours later, Alfred, done with the chores he had set out for himself today, leaned against the door frame leading into the ballroom and watched Damian work.  Damian had his back to the door as he worked, and didn’t notice Alfred watching him as he sanded the floor by hand, on his hands and knees.  Alfred was listening closely as Damian stopped, sat up, and wiped sweat from his brow.  He was surprised that he didn’t hear any grumbling at the hard work he was putting in.

Another few hours found another house resident standing in the doorway of the ballroom, watching Damian work.  Dick smiled as the boy worked the electric floor buffer around the now-shining wooden surface.  It was loud enough that Damian hadn’t heard Dick call out a greeting to him several minutes before.  Instead, to get Damian’s attention, Dick pulled the plug to the machine.

Looking down at his tool in confusion, Damian flicked the on/off switch several times.  “What the hell happened?” he asked softly.

“Good job, little bro, but you’re using that machine wrong.”

Damian turned to see Dick holding the end of the extension cord in his hand and smiling.  He walked over and said, “Grayson, plug that back in, so I can finish this coat before the wax dries.  Unless _you_ want to explain to Pennyworth why there is a hazy corner to the dancefloor.”

“Sure, Little D.” Dick plugged the buffer back in and Damian finished before the wax could harden.

Taking a step back and yawning, Damian looked over his day’s work and said, “I think I’m almost done.  Just a couple more coats of wax and this thing should be ready for me and Robin.”

Dick smiled and said, “What about the other guests?”

Damian shrugged, “Who cares about them?  This is my floor now.  If I’m putting this much work into it, I sure as hell am going to be the one to get the most use out of it.”

Dick held out his hands and said, “You want to give it a try now?  See if your dancing skills are a match for the good work you’ve been putting in?”

Damian looked at the way Dick was standing and scoffed, “What makes you think you’re going to lead?”

Dick grabbed Damian and pulled him in tight, like he was getting ready to dance, “I’m taller.”

Damian was struggling ineffectively to get out of Dick’s grasp as the older brother dragged him onto the dancefloor and started humming a waltz.  Despite his unwilling partner, Dick made a large circle of the floor, expertly dodging the feet that were trying to stomp on his own.  Only when he slipped on the shiny surface a bit was Damian able to escape.

“What do you think you’re doing, Grayson?”

“Just seeing if you’re _really_ ready for Miss Abbey,” Dick said with a smile.  “The floor is kind of slick, how many coats of wax did you put on it?”

“Seven, why?”

Dick snorted a laugh, “Seven?  You’re trying to make a dance floor, not a bowling alley.  Bruce will consider the party a failure if he has to call an ambulance because some old socialite slips and breaks a hip.”

“I was only going to do one more coat,” Damian grumbled.

“Good, that will give me a chance to show you how to really use that piece of equipment.”

“I think Pennyworth’s instructions are working just fine.”

“Just watch,” Dick smirked.

Dick approached the machine, checked several settings, and turned it on.  As soon as the buffing head got up to speed, Dick turned the machine and jumped on the head.  Holding on to the handles, the whole floor buffer started spinning.  Dick gave a whoop of excitement as the extension cord wrapped around him, due to the spinning.  When he ran out of cord, the plug was ripped from the wall socket and the buffer, rider and all, tipped over.  Dick lay on the floor, tied to the floor buffer, laughing.

Damian just shook his head and said, “You’re an idiot, Grayson.”

“You’re just upset that you didn’t figure it our first, and that I had all the fun.”

Damian walked over and inspected the floor where the device had spun for close to a minute.  “No, I’m upset that you messed up my floor.  Now I _have_ to do that final coat, just to cover up all the scuffs you just made.  Untangle yourself from the machine, so I can finish, hopefully before dinner.  And once you untangle yourself, go away.”

Dick pouted at the look on Damian’s face, but extricated himself from the buffer and walked out of the ballroom.  From the hallway, he called out, “By the way, it’s almost eight.  We’ve been holding dinner for you.  Go get yourself cleaned up.  You can finish this after dinner.”

_Thursday…_

“Pennyworth?  What’s wrong?”

Alfred looked up from where he was sitting, at his small table in the kitchen.  He hadn’t heard the boy enter the room.

“My apologies, Master Damian.  Let me prepare your breakfast.”

Damian placed a hand gently on Alfred’s shoulder and said, “That can wait.  Something is bothering you.  I’d like to help.”

Alfred gave a wan smile and patted the second chair at his small table.  Damian sat down and looked at the conflicted look on Alfred’s face.  “I’m afraid there is very little either of us can do at this point to improve the situation.  The rental store called and informed me that they are having a supply problem.  They have been replacing old tables with newer, lightweight tables.  In order to be able to afford a complete set of the new tables, they had to sell off their old tables.  Now, their supplier is unable to fulfill their order before the party.  Therefore, they can only supply half of the tables we need.  I also got a call from the company that provides our wait staff.  They have overbooked themselves for the fourth, and can only supply half of the agreed-upon waiters.”

Damian thought for a second before saying, “The answer is simple, Pennyworth.  Call half of the invited guests and tell them that the party has been canceled.”

A reluctant smile crossed Alfred’s face.  “It may just come to that, Master Damian.  Until that eventuality occurs, perhaps we can think of something that doesn’t involve social ostracism.”

“We would only cancel the ones we don’t like.”

“I know, young sir, but that decision would have to be your father’s.  I guess the only thing we can do is find new providers.”

Damian shook his head, “This is unacceptable, Pennyworth.  The rental store and the staffers have already been paid for the contract.  How can they expect to run a successful business while canceling on contracts?”

Alfred smiled softly, “We have already been refunded for the portion of the contracts that is not being met.  I can’t remember the last time I have had to run a party with multiple service providers.  It’s doable, but less than ideal.”

“I assume you will be going into town to find new providers?  Did you wish for me to accompany you, or are there more chores to be done around here?  I am content either way.”

Alfred sighed and reached into a pocket.  “I am afraid that, despite how much help you have been to me, I am forced to press you into service yet again.  I realize now that, without your help this week, there is literally no way I could accomplish everything that needs to be done before this party on my own.  Even with your days of hard work, I am still behind on preparations.  These setbacks will only make it harder to get everything ready.  I hate to ask this of you, but there is much to be done still.”

Damian reached out to the butler.  Instead of taking the folded paper from the man’s hand, he placed his hand on Alfred’s forearm.  “I offered to help, Pennyworth.  I knew what I was getting myself into.  You can trust me to get as much done as possible for you.”

Alfred smiled again, “I know I can, young sir.  Unfortunately, today will be asking a lot of you.  This is what still needs to be done.  Had everything gone to plan, I would be splitting these chores with you.  For now, I must ask that you accomplish as much as possible, while I try to salvage our outside situation.”

Damian took the list from Alfred’s hand and unfolded it.  He was surprised to find that it was two pages long, handwritten front and back, in Alfred’s neat, small handwriting.  His eyes slowly widened as he saw the sheer number of items left to do before the party.  Taking a deep breath, Damian said, “I’ll do what I can, Pennyworth.”

“You will require a hearty breakfast before you start.  Let me fix that for you.”

“I’ll require a quick breakfast before I start, if I’m going to make a dent in this list.”

The butler had already moved across the kitchen, and was preparing to start cooking.  “Nonsense, my boy.  Your eggs will be ready in a couple minutes.”

His breakfast was, in fact, ready in just a couple minutes.  However, Alfred was gone by the time Damian was finished eating it.  He wanted to get his errands done as quickly as possible, and he trusted the boy could take care of himself for a couple hours.

Damian got right to work, deciding to just go straight down the list and get as much done as possible.  Like every day this week, he soon lost all track of time while engrossed in his work.  He was so distracted that he didn’t realize it had been hours since he had seen Alfred, until the phone rang.

With Alfred nowhere in sight, and annoyance setting in at the interruption, Damian snatched the phone from the hook just before the answering machine picked up.  “Wayne residence, what do you want?”

“Damian?”

Damian winced as he recognized the voice.  “Oh.  Um, hello Father.”

“Are you okay, son?”

“Just very busy, Father.  Is everything alright?”

Bruce sounded a bit off, but Damian wouldn’t realize it until after the call ended.  “So far.  The auditors are still here, but they’re saying they will be done tonight, and we will get the results sometime tomorrow.  Damian, can I speak with Alfred?”

Damian looked around.  He had expected the butler to come and take the phone from him, but Damian remained alone.  “Um…maybe?”

“What does that mean, Damian?”

Damian looked at a clock and winced again, “To be honest, Father, I haven’t seen Pennyworth in hours.”

Bruce sounded confused, “Aren’t you helping him get ready for the party?”

“Yes, Father, but this morning he informed me that there was a SNAFU with the rentals and the staff.  He left to take care of it while I was still eating breakfast, after leaving me a list of chores.”

Damian could imagine Bruce nodding at the explanation.  “How are the chores coming?”

Damian shrugged, “I hope I’m completing them to Pennyworth’s satisfaction.  It’s a long list today, I just hope I have enough time to finish everything.  I’ve almost finished the first page of the list.”

Bruce coughed on the other end of the phone, “Did you say the first page?”

“Yes, Father.”

“How many pages are we talking here?”

Damian pulled the list out of his pocket and looked at it again.  “Just two pages, front and back on each.  The first side went fairly quickly.  The back side of that page is taking a little longer, but it’s almost done.”

Bruce’s voice expressed a combination of pride and disappointment.  “Be sure to take a break every now and then, Damian.  You’ve been working awfully hard the last couple of days.”

Damian shook his head, even though the gesture wasn’t seen.  “There’s far too much to do for that, Father.  How does Pennyworth get all of this done on his own before every party?”

“He doesn’t.  He told me last week that certain items on the list for this party are things that are only done once a year, or less.  It was just time to do them, I guess.  Like the ball room floor, which you did a great job with yesterday.  That will only get waxed maybe once a year, and only stripped down like you did maybe once every five years.  Is Alfred around?  Can I speak with him?”

Damian had taken the cordless phone out to the garage to see if Pennyworth’s preferred Mercedes was present.  It wasn’t.  “As far as I can tell, he isn’t here.  Is there some message you would like me to convey to him, or would you prefer to just call his cell phone?”

Bruce sighed, but said, “I’ll just call his cell, but I’ll tell you, too.  Dick and I are going to be late again tonight.  It might be best if he just did dinner for the two of you tonight.  If it gets too late, we’ll just get something in town.  If it looks like that is going to happen, I’ll call back.”

“Is there some problem, Father?”

“Nothing to worry about, son.  We have to get some paperwork done tonight.  The audit has caused us to put off our regular work, but it has to be done before the holiday for us to stay in compliance with regulatory guidelines.  I have a stack of paperwork next to my desk that is almost as tall as you.  I hope to get at least half of it done tonight.”

Damian took a seat at the dining table as he said, “Can I assume that you won’t be…going out tonight?  If there should be any…calls, would you like me to take care of them?”

The line was quiet for a minute while Bruce thought.  “I would prefer that you weren’t out on your own.  You know how I feel about that.  I already told Jason to watch for any…calls.  I’ll let him know that you might call him if there are any…direct calls.  I’ll tell him to call you if he needs any help.  Hopefully Dick and I won’t be too late, but if we are, and anything happens, Jason can handle it.”

Damian was disappointed, but he didn’t want to show it, lest Bruce change his mind and cancel his earned time with Robin.  “Very well, Father.  It sounds like we all are busy today.”

“Yes.  We should get back to it, so we can get it done as quickly as possible.  I’ll see you sometime tonight, Damian.  Be sure to take a couple breaks, okay?”

“I’ll try, Father.  See you later.”

Damian hung up the phone and thought to himself, _that phone call was long enough to qualify as a break.  I have way too much to do to take any more.  I hope Pennyworth was able to solve the issues.  Well, back to work._

A quarter of a day later, Bruce was met by Alfred at the front door as he dragged himself into his home.  Both men looked frazzled as Bruce gratefully handed off his briefcase.

“Good evening, Alfred.  How did it go today?”

The butler hung up his employer’s suit coat and said, “Quite annoying, but eventually everything was sorted.  Needless to say, I will be looking for a new staffing service before our next society engagement.”

Bruce shrugged and stretched, his shoulders stiff from hours hunched over his desk.  “How about here?  How did it go here today?”

Alfred looked guilty as he said, “I’m afraid it took far longer to solve the staffing and rental issues than I thought it would.  I actually only returned home a little over an hour ago.”

Bruce looked up, surprised, “Damian was home alone all day?  Is the rest of the house still standing?”

Alfred glared at Bruce lightly, “Such lack of trust in your own son, sir?”

“He _is_ twelve, Alfred.  No matter how mature he acts, he is still a young boy, left alone in a very large house.  Where is he?”

Alfred looked at a loss, “I…I have yet to come across the boy since I’ve been home.”

Bruce interpreted what he just heard, “You don’t know where he is?  How is that possible?”

“I have been following the chore list I gave him from memory.  I believe you should see a few things.”

Alfred led Bruce to the Ball Room and pointed at the walls.  “One of the items on the list was to clean the Ball Room windows.  He did both inside and outside.”

“Wow, not a streak on any of them.  Good job, kiddo.”

Alfred next led Bruce to the laundry room, where there was a stack of folded sheets on top of the dryer.  Alfred said, “The second list I gave him this morning was full of the weekly household chores, which I was planning on completing today.”

Alfred picked up a note off of the top of the pile and handed it to Bruce.  He read Damian’s neat handwriting, ‘ _Pennyworth- I don’t know where you keep these after they’ve been cleaned, so I just left them here for you.  I don’t want to put them in the wrong place.’_   “He changed the sheets?”

“I don’t know if you chose to count them, but there are six complete sets of sheets in this stack.  He not only changed and washed the sheets from your beds, but he did my bed, too.  All of the beds have been made up with military precision; I checked.”

Bruce smiled, “He changed your sheets, too?  That’s…well, Dick would call it adorable.”

“He also vacuumed my rooms while he was at it.”

Alfred then led Bruce to the downstairs guest restroom.  The fixtures gleamed, and the toiletries were restocked to party day levels.  Bruce merely commented, “He sure kept himself busy today.”

“One last thing I should show you, Master Bruce.”  Alfred finally led Bruce into the kitchen, where several dishes were either simmering or sat covered.

“Alfred, I called and told you that Dick and I were going to eat in town, since it was getting late.”

Alfred nodded, “Yes, and had I been home when you called, it would not have been an issue.  However, you called me, assuming I would be here, when I was not.”

The butler handed over another note, which he had found leaning against a covered dish.  ‘ _Pennyworth- I don’t know what you had planned for dinner, but as it is getting late, I got something started for you.  Father sounded like he would be very busy today when he called earlier, so I don’t want to disturb him while he is working.  Not knowing how many people to expect, I have prepared enough to feed six.  I hope you don’t mind, and I hope this helps you out.’_

Bruce read the note twice more, a smile unfurling across his lips.  “He is something special, Alfred.  Too bad none of us could be here for his effort.  He made dinner for six, and no one showed up to eat it.”

“If I may point out, sir, that he did not even partake of it himself.”

Bruce looked up, shocked, “He didn’t eat dinner?”

“To the best of my knowledge, no.  There is a tray of baked chicken breasts in the oven.  There are still six on the tray, and there are no dishes in the sink or dishwasher.  He waited for you, then seems to have given up.”

Bruce felt horrible for not calling to check on Damian during the afternoon, but he had been just too busy.  “Where is he, Alfred?  We need to find him.  You don’t think he ran off again, do you?”

Alfred shook his head, “The young sir promised me he wouldn’t.  He has been remarkably steady the past few days.  I am willing to go out on a limb and state he is somewhere in the house.”

Bruce snapped his fingers, “The list.  He said you gave him a long list, and he hoped to be able to get everything done for you.  What items were towards the end of the list?”

“That’s hard to say, sir.  It would all depend on which page he chose to do first.  I gave him two pages, fully intending to be home much earlier, so I could take the second page back from him.  If he washed the sheets and vacuumed my rooms, then he definitely made it to the second page.”

Bruce nodded, “When I talked to him early this afternoon, he said he was almost done with the whole first page.  What was at the end of the second page?”

Alfred’s eyes widened, “The cave, sir.  I fully intended to get my weekly sweeping and dusting done tonight.”

They headed quickly to the subterranean lair of the Bat, where it was easy to find Damian.  He was standing in the middle of the Batmobile turntable, leaning on a broom.  Bruce approached, and a soft smile broke out on his face as he realized that Damian was literally asleep on his feet, balanced precariously on the broom.

“Poor kiddo, tuckered himself out.  I told him to take some breaks; I’ll bet he didn’t.  Might as well get him up to bed.”

Alfred was looking around the cave.  Finally, he approached Bruce with wide eyes and whispered, “Master Bruce, sweeping the turntable was the last thing on the list.  If this is where we found him, then I think we can assume that he completed the entire list of chores.”

Bruce gently picked up his son.  An unconscious smile came to the boy’s face as he pressed himself into his Father.

As soon as Bruce took one step, Damian jostled just enough to regain a semblance of consciousness.  He slurred out, “Wha? What’s going on?  Put me down, I’m not done yet.”

“You’re done son.  Even if you aren’t done, you’re done.  You’ve done enough,” Bruce said gently.

Damian squirmed a bit, “But, I’m not done with the list yet, Father.  Pennyworth is too busy to have to come back down here and do the turntable again.  I just…need to…finish that.”  The boy yawned out the last two words.

Alfred walked next to Bruce as he carried the almost slumbering child up the stairs.  “May I see the lists, Master Damian?  I would like to see if my guess is right.”

Numbly, Damian fished the now-crumpled list from his pocket and handed it over.  As Alfred suspected, the only thing not crossed off was the turntable.  “Master Damian, did you truthfully complete every item on these lists?”

“Not the turntable.”

“But everything else?”

Damian nodded before wrapping his arms around Bruce’s neck.

Alfred gave a proud smile.  “Master Damian, you have accomplished a small miracle today.  That second list on its own would have taken me an entire day.  You must have been running around like a madman to get everything done.  Thank you.  Your efforts have managed to put us back ahead of schedule.”

Damian could only give a weak smile at the praise.  Bruce said softly, “Did you take any breaks today, like I told you to?”

“Um…does the call where you told me to take breaks count as a break?”

“No.”

“Oh.  Then, no, I didn’t.  Sorry, Father.”

Bruce smirked.  He knew Damian would take as many breaks in his work day as he did, which is to say, none.  “Come on, son.  I think it’s bedtime for you.  You’ve worked hard enough for one day.”

Damian sounded a bit scared as he whispered, “I’m sorry, Father.  I didn’t mean to disobey you, there was just so much to do today.”

“Damian, you aren’t being punished with an early bedtime.  You’re exhausted.  You can’t even keep your eyes open, you need to rest.”

“…But, what about your dinner?”

Bruce began to massage the back of Damian’s neck, knowing it was the secret weapon in relaxing his son.  “We’ll have it tomorrow, when we will all be here and awake to enjoy your delicious-looking meal.”

“Sure…Father…” Damian slurred out of a sleeping mouth.  Bruce set his son on his bed and began to put him into a pair of pajamas.  Bruce stopped when he had stripped the boy out of his dusty clothes, down to his boxer briefs, and instead set the boy under his blankets as is.  Damian was already asleep for several minutes when Bruce planted a light kiss on Damian’s forehead, turned out the light, and left the room.

_Friday…_

“Master Damian, are you feeling alright?  You don’t look well.”

Damian staggered into the kitchen, a hand pressed to his forehead.  “I have a headache, Pennyworth.”

Alfred sighed, “I’m not surprised; with the way you treated yourself yesterday.  Honestly, thirteen straight hours of labor with only one meal in the morning to try to hold you over?  I’m amazed you could get out of bed at all.”

Damian slumped onto a counter stool and said, “Getting out of bed probably wasn’t the best idea I’ve had all week, but this is where the food is, and I desperately need some of that.”

A plate of delicious-smelling French toast and bacon was slid in front of the miserable-looking child.  “Why don’t you work on that, while I fetch you some Advil?”

Damian didn’t hear anything Alfred said after the plate was set in front of him.  By the time Alfred returned with a couple pills, and poured a glass of juice so Damian could swallow them, the plate was empty.

“My goodness.  We are hungry today, aren’t we, Master Damian?”

Damian shrugged, “I don’t know about ‘we’, but yes, I am.”

“Would you care for some more?  Perhaps you can slow down enough to actually taste the next batch.”

“Maybe one, or two…or three more.”

Alfred took the plate back to refill it, a smile on his face.  Over the next set of French toast, Damian asked, “So, what is in store for today?  Were you able to resolve the issues with the rental company and the wait staff?”

Alfred was washing the griddle as he replied, “Let me apologize to you for what happened yesterday.  It was never my intention for you to complete both of those lists of chores.  Nor was it my intention for you to be left alone here all day.  That said, I must thank you for carrying on in the best tradition possible.  I am exceedingly happy with your efforts this past week.  As for this morning, I am going to polish the silver, and once you are done eating, you are going back to bed.”

Damian almost choked on a piece of bacon.  “Going back to bed?  What did I do, Pennyworth?”

“You did two and a half days of work in the span of thirteen hours.  You deserve a break, Master Damian.  That headache you are fighting off is your body’s way of telling you to slow down.  You should heed the warning.  Your actions have put us ahead of schedule.  I have no further need of your services until this afternoon, when the tables are delivered.  We will set those up together.  In the meantime, you are no good to me when you need to prop yourself up just to eat breakfast.  Finish up, and we will get you back to bed.”

With a full belly, and a dose of painkillers working its way through his system, Damian found it quite easy to fall back into his comfortable bed and allow himself to rest.  Just over two hours later, he awoke, feeling much more refreshed, and looking much less like an advertisement for death.  A long shower helped to wipe any remaining drowsiness from his head, and he dressed and headed back downstairs.

Damian found Alfred sitting at the dining room table with a veritable mountain of silver stacked in front of him.  The boy’s silent approach meant he wasn’t noticed as he walked into the room.

“Do you have another polishing cloth, Pennyworth?”

Alfred started in surprise.  “Master Damian, I didn’t hear you come in.  You look much better than you did before.”

“Thank you.  I feel better.  My headache is just about gone.  So, do you have another polishing cloth?”

Alfred smiled, “Of course, young sir.  Take a seat, I would be most grateful for your help.”

Alfred left and returned a minute later with a second cloth.  He handed it to the boy, and they set to tackling the pile of loot in front of them.

“Pennyworth, is all of this to be used during the party?”

Alfred laughed lightly, “No, Master Damian.  The silverware, yes, but most of the other items are just items that haven’t been polished in a while.  I am actually trying to kill some time before the delivery men get here.  Since the other chores are all done, thanks to you, I have the time to make sure the silver shines.”

Damian nodded, and they worked silently for the next half hour before Damian said softly, “Is it always like this?  Getting ready for a society party, I mean?”

“I don’t think I take your meaning, young sir?”

Damian sighed, “You had easily two weeks’ worth of chores to complete, for what will turn out to be just a couple hours of rich people congratulating each other for being rich.  Is it always this hectic?”

“No, Master Damian.  This was a special circumstance of numerous chores that needed to be done, yet hadn’t been done.  Despite how busy we both have been this week, I must say that rarely do party preparations go so smoothly.  Even with the problems with supplies, everything is coming together nicely.  I have the weekend to finalize preparations.  Usually I only have an hour or two to make sure everything is done right before a party.”

The butler saw a smile work its way onto the youth’s face, and stay there.  Again, they worked silently, and as luck would have it, the doorbell rang as Alfred finished with the last piece of silver on the table.  The party tables were delivered, on time and the requested number, even though two companies were completing the order.  Table set up took the better part of four hours, but at the end, even Bruce and Dick, who had just returned from the office, were impressed with the setting.

_Saturday…_

It was a long-held tradition in Stately Wayne Manor that, no matter what was going on, no matter how busy everyone was, or how tight the upcoming deadline, everyone slept in on Saturday mornings.  Most Saturdays, breakfast wasn’t completed until almost noon, and the rest of the day was spent in some form of relaxation.  This came out of necessity for the creatures of the night.  Friday nights, historically, were the biggest night of the week for crime in Gotham City.  Friday night patrols, invariably, ended long after midnight.  Pile that on top of a full week at the office, and nothing short of a natural disaster would get any resident of Wayne Manor out of bed early on a Saturday.

Today, however, was an exception to the rule.  After a week of limited work time, due to the OSHA audit, work was piling up at the office at an alarming rate.  In order to curtail the number of late nights to be spent at the office next week, Bruce and Dick had agreed to go in on Saturday morning and get a couple hours of paperwork completed.  It seemed like a perfect compromise to everyone, until Bruce reached his office.  The first thing he saw was the final report from the recently completed audit.

He hadn’t had a chance to read the report the day before, as the auditors had worked until almost quitting time just to complete it.  Their final meeting had gone well, and the auditors had informed Bruce and his board of directors that the company had passed all aspects of the audit successfully.  Bruce was so relieved that he had forgotten to ask what had triggered the audit.  Now was his chance to find out.

Three pages into the final report, Bruce called Dick up to his office.  He reported the audit trigger, written plain as day at the bottom of report page two, continuing onto page three.  A previously unknown employee had delivered mail to the payroll department and chatted with a coworker for a minute, stating he was the new mailroom clerk.  The payroll officer was suspicious, as just about everyone in the department was notified when there were new hires.  There had been no new notifications recently, and a little digging had shown there were no new hires in the building.  A report was made to the payroll supervisor, who escalated the issue.  The supervisor was concerned that this supposed new employee didn’t show up on any of their lists, and therefore wasn’t getting paid.  They just wanted to save embarrassment for the company, and get to the bottom of why there were employees working without getting paid.  The fact that the phantom employee was twelve years old was mentioned nowhere in the report.

“This is going to crush him,” Dick sighed, “He was right all along.”

Bruce nodded, “I’ll find something else for him to do here.  Something that keeps him out of sight better.  I can’t really be mad about this, it’s something we predicted might happen.  Tuesday is going to suck, when I have to explain this to the Board, but I think tonight will be worse, when I explain it to Damian.”

“Do you want my help with that?”

Bruce nodded, “Yes, have the first aid supplies handy, just in case.”

Several hours of paperwork later, Bruce and Dick were ready to call it a day.  They were not as productive as they thought they might be today, but the pile of paperwork was shorter than it had been.  They both agreed that a couple late nights were inevitable over the next week, and stopped off for a late lunch before heading home.

Bruce tracked down his boy once they had returned home and had a chance to change clothes.  Damian was out in the back yard, leaning on a lawn mower, using his shirt to wipe sweat from his brow.  Bruce approached from behind as Damian slipped the end of the discarded shirt into the back pocket of his shorts.  He was only slightly startled when a bottle of cold water was held over his shoulder.  Damian took it gratefully and drained half of it in one swig.

Turning, he regarded his father coldly.  “Father.”

Bruce gave a slight grimace at the tone and replied, “Good afternoon, son.”

“If you insist,” Damian said with a sigh.

“Did I do something wrong, Damian?”

“Did you really think it would be a good idea to fire the gardeners a week before a society party?”

Bruce shrugged, “I hired new ones; they just can’t start until next week.”

Damian nodded, “I understand that, Father.  What I don’t understand is why you thought it would be a good idea to do it _now_.  Unless you haven’t noticed, it’s hot out.  It’s the middle of summer.  The grass isn’t going to cut itself.  The shrubs aren’t going to just stop growing.  This is all to make _your_ house look good for _your_ friends.”

Bruce looked confused, “I still don’t get what you’re so upset about.  You didn’t have to do yard work.”

Damian growled, “Yes, Father, I did.  If I didn’t do it, Pennyworth would be out here doing it.  Do you really want your seventy-one year old butler out here in the blazing sun, mowing the lawn?”

Bruce sighed, “You’re right, Damian.  That was insensitive of me.  I honestly just assumed we could let the lawn go for another week.  I wasn’t worried about it.”

“Pennyworth was.  You know he wants everything perfect for your parties.  We’ve worked all week to get the house in presentable condition.  How could you honestly think the outside wouldn’t get just as much attention as the inside?”

“From what he’s been telling me, _you_ have done most of the work.  I’m proud of you for not complaining about the work.  You have a right to complain, though.  I guess I don’t realize just how much goes into getting ready for one of these parties.”

Damian sighed, dropping his chin to his chest, “I’m sorry, Father.  It’s been a long week.  I shouldn’t be complaining.  Pennyworth does this for every society event, and manages to complete his work without complaint.”

Bruce took another step closer to the boy.  “It’s okay to get a little hot under the collar, so to speak, every now and then.  I recognize that look on your face, son.  I’m still not canceling the time you’ve earned with Robin due to your good behavior.  You’ve earned it, and I’m not going to take that away for an understandable outburst.  So, how long have you been out here?”

Damian looked up to the sky.  While it was still hot out, the sun wasn’t directly overhead anymore, and the shadows of the house were falling at a sharper angle.  “Probably about five or six hours, Father.”

Bruce’s eyes widened, “It takes that long to do the yard?”

“Well, no.  I did the shrubs, then the front lawn.  Then, I kinda took a couple hour break, when Robin called to talk.  We haven’t really talked much this week.  I can’t wait to see her on Monday.”

Bruce looked uncomfortable again, “Listen, Damian…are you almost done?  There is something important we need to talk about.”

Damian read the look on Bruce’s face, and wondered which item of conversation was causing his father such discomfort.  Then he remembered where Bruce had been this morning.  “I have a couple hundred square feet more to mow.  We have a big yard.”  Damian looked down at his feet, but said clear as day, “The audit really _was_ my fault, wasn’t it?”

Bruce took a deep breath and said, “It wasn’t your fault, but you were the trigger.”

Damian’s breath caught in his throat, and he refused to loose the sob that wanted to break out.  “I…I’m sorry, Father.  Can I make one request, though?”

Caught off guard, Bruce said, “Sure.  What is it?”

“Can I go in on Tuesday, to say my goodbyes to my coworkers?  We worked well together.  It isn’t fair to them to just disappear with no notice.”

Bruce placed a hand on a warm, sweaty shoulder.  “I need to have a talk with Jerry before there is any talk of goodbyes.  I’m still going to try to find you something less public to do.  Until then, you can still work in the mail room, doing the sorting.”

Damian nodded, still not looking up, “I suppose that is the best compromise we are going to be able to come up with.  Did the report say what the exact trigger for the audit was?”

Bruce said softly, “It seems you delivered some mail to the payroll department, and told someone there that you were a new employee.  Unlike the rest of the building, everyone in the payroll department knows when there is a new hire starting.  You were an oddity to them; a working employee starting when there were no new employees scheduled to start.  They wanted to make sure that all employees were adequately compensated for their labors, and I guess Corporate Mascot is not a paid position, and also shouldn’t be delivering the mail.”

Damian finally looked up.  Bruce couldn’t tell if the streaks on his face were from tears or sweat.  “I’m sorry, Father.  You told me to be stealthy while working, but I couldn’t do that.  You…I guess you just employ friendly people.  There was always someone offering a greeting, or a couple friendly words.  It was just too easy to talk to people while making my rounds.  I talked to the wrong person, obviously.  I guess this experiment was a failure after all.”

“Hey, your time at the company wasn’t a failure.  You did everything asked of you, in a manner that impressed people.”

Damian interrupted, “How can you not consider it a failure?  The company was subjected to a government audit because I couldn’t keep my head down and do my job.”

“Damian, do you remember the reason I wanted you to come work for Wayne Enterprises this summer?  The real reason, not the reason you are going to throw out that makes you sound like a terrible person.”

Damian looked up, barely meeting Bruce’s eyes with a glance.  “You said…it’s ours, and I need to know about it?”

“That’s right.  How are you going to get to know something without experiencing it?”

Damian grumbled, “I didn’t have to experience getting shot to know it wouldn’t be a fun experience.”

Bruce rolled his eyes, “The answer is, you can’t.  Wayne Enterprises isn’t a building, or a dream had by my six-times removed great-grandfather.  Yes, I suppose it is that, but it also is the people who work there.  One day, you are going to be the boss of those people who made you feel welcomed at your job.  You said it yourself, you felt comfortable talking to these people.  That was the whole focus behind the idea of you coming to work for me.  You got to do a job, and you got to interact with people in a positive manner.  If a measly OSHA audit is the only repercussion from that experiment, then I would say it was a success.  You might be surprised to know that your age wasn’t mentioned in the complaint anywhere, just that you were working under the table.”

Damian took several deep breaths before nodding, “Okay.  Thank you for telling me, Father.  I really should get the lawn done, before dinner.”

Bruce gave Damian a short hug.  “Okay, son.  We’ll talk more about this later.  We need to come up with a couple new plans, just in case.  We also need better contingency plans for things like this in the future.”

Damian nodded as Bruce walked away.  He fired the lawn mower back up and continued with his chore.

_Sunday…_

Damian trudged into the kitchen late Sunday morning, yawning as he approached the butler.  Alfred turned to see the boy rubbing sleep out of his eyes with one hand, while holding out his other hand, palm up.

“Good morning, Master Damian.”

“‘Morning, Pennyworth,” he said with a yawn.  “Why didn’t you wake me?  We’re running out of time before the party tomorrow.”

“What, pray tell, are you reaching for, young sir?”

Damian shook his hand impatiently, “The list of chores you are inevitably going to give me to get ready for the party.  I want to look it over during breakfast, so I know what I’m in for today.”

Alfred smiled and placed a hand on Damian’s shoulder, gently leading him into the dining room.  “There is only one chore left to do before the party, Master Damian.  You should easily be able to take care of it while I get your breakfast.”

Damian sounded curious, “What is it, Pennyworth?”

Alfred pointed up at the tennis ball, still stuck at the top of the chandelier.  “I believe that is yours.  If you would be so kind as to climb up there and take it down?”

Damian flushed a bit, but just said, “Where’s the ladder?”

Alfred stopped at the door and winked at the boy over his shoulder.  “Ladder, Master Damian?”

Damian’s jaw dropped, “Wait, you _want_ me to climb on the furniture?”

“I believe Master Dick calls it, ‘What Alfred doesn’t see, doesn’t hurt you’.”

The butler left the dining room, and Damian scrambled up onto the table with a smile wreathing his face.  Only then did he realize that the ball was still eight feet over his head.  Looking back at the door to the kitchen, Damian took a deep breath and jumped.

He was amazed that the old light fixture held his weight.  Damian climbed hand over hand up the hanging brass structure, trying not to shake it too much, afraid he might damage the antique.  The ball was dislodged, and Damian dropped back to the table top, wincing when the wooden surface creaked and groaned under his bare feet.  Damian quickly hopped off of the table and straightened the settings.

Alfred returned to the room as Damian was pulling out his chair.  The butler had waited in the hallway until he was sure the boy was off of the furniture.  The only signs that anything had taken place were a slight sway in the chandelier, and a hint of a flush in Damian’s cheeks.

Alfred stopped a couple steps from the table, confusing Damian.  Alfred held the boy’s eyes and moved his leg slightly.  The tennis ball flew up from the floor to land in the boy’s surprised hand.

“While I am glad that you were able to retrieve your projectile, the idea was to put it away.  Please make sure that finds an appropriate place after breakfast.”

Damian just smiled bashfully as Alfred set the plate in front of him.  Damian picked up his fork, but paused and said, “Shouldn’t I wait for the others?”

Alfred smiled, “Master Damian, it is nearly noon.  The others have all eaten and left to perform some errands for tonight’s barbeque.”

Damian cocked his head, “We’re having a barbeque?  Why?”

“Your father wished to have a family celebration, before the party tomorrow.”

The boy looked curious, “What are we celebrating, Pennyworth?”

“The same thing you are on Monday, young sir.  The Fourth of July.  Master Bruce wanted to do something more in line with the holiday than the formal party tomorrow.  He said a barbeque would be just the thing.”

Damian asked in between bites, “Are you sure there is nothing left to do before the party, Pennyworth?”

Alfred rounded the table and placed a hand on Damian’s shoulder.  “Just the food, which I am preparing as we speak.  You have done more than your fair share in preparing this house for tomorrow.  More, even, than I thought would be done, given how this week started.  You have been an incredible help to me this week, young man, and I have made sure to inform your father of that fact.”

Damian looked a tad nervous as he asked quietly, “Do you think he’ll still let me spend the party with Robin tomorrow?  I want to make use of those dancing lessons you gave me.  I, kind of, blew up at him yesterday.  He said he wasn’t mad about it, but it still shouldn’t have happened.”

Alfred gave a cryptic smile and said, “You might have earned a waltz or two.  Rest assured, young sir, your father may surprise you yet.”

“Do you need my help with the food, Pennyworth?”

“No, dear boy.  You would just spend the party wondering if the guests liked your creations.”

Damian handed his empty plate back to the butler and followed him into the kitchen.  “Is that what you think, Pennyworth?  I mean, during parties?  You stand next to the food tables a lot.  Are you planning menus for future parties based on what people are eating?”

Alfred gave a knowing smile, accompanied by a slight blush, as a giggle worked its way out of the boy.

As Alfred was putting the dishes away, Damian asked, “So, what am I supposed to do today?”

“Your father asked if you could sweep the patio around the barbeque.  While you’re out there, you might as well take a swim and relax a bit.”

Damian just watched as Alfred worked for several minutes, thinking about the feeling of lightness that was coming over his shoulders.  _They don’t expect me to do anything today.  Or, do they?  I should sweep the patio, then make sure the deck is clear, just in case.  Pennyworth did say that Father wants me to relax.  I guess I can go put on my swimsuit and see what happens.  If I get done early, maybe I can bring a book out by the pool to read.  I wonder when Father will be home._

It was warm on the back patio, but not uncomfortably so, when Damian walked out of the house.  It was, however, a little more humid than the dry, air-conditioned climate of the house had led him to believe.  Like the heat, it wasn’t uncomfortable on its own, but by the time Damian was finished sweeping the patio and deck, his tank top was clinging to his back with sweat, and he was glad he had chosen sandals over shoes and socks.

He erected the umbrella over the patio table, then used a wet rag to wipe down the table, chairs, and barbeque.  He looked over his work, and started to believe he was really done, and could relax.  He pulled off the clinging shirt and tossed it to hang over the back of a chair around the table as Dick approached with a bottle of cold water.  He handed it to the boy, who drained it gratefully.

“Good morning, Grayson,” Damian said.

“Afternoon, actually,” Dick replied with a smile.

Damian sighed and said, “Is there any reason I was left here, alone, today?”

Dick looked confused, “Alfred’s here.”

“You know what I mean, Grayson.”

Dick shrugged, “That was Bruce’s call.  He knows how hard you’ve worked this week, and he wanted to make sure you got a good night’s sleep last night.”

Damian seemed like he was considering what Dick was saying.  He then asked, “Okay, where were you and Drake?”

Dick smiled, “Were you lonely, little brother?”  Damian just glared, so Dick continued, “Tim’s been staying at his apartment for most of the week, to be closer to work for the audit.  I didn’t think you would really want to help me help Jason build a storage rack at his apartment this morning.  Don’t worry, they’ll all be here for the barbeque.”

Damian sighed, “Why is it that no one considers telling me anything beforehand?  Just because I’m the youngest doesn’t mean I’m a child.”

“I know, but you have to admit…” Dick trailed off as he reached out and found a ticklish spot on Damian’s ribs.  The youngster jumped and let out an involuntary shout of laughter.  Dick smirked and said, “…you do laugh like one.”

Dick got a suspicious look on his face, one that Damian wasn’t able to decipher until it was too late.  “It’s getting hotter, I think.  Could you hand me that rag?”

Damian handed over the cloth he had used to wipe off the table and barbeque.  Dick unfolded it and found a clean corner to wipe his forehead.  Dick turned and tossed the rag on the table, then turned back and looked down.

“Are those new?  I don’t think I’ve seen those flip-flops before.  Can I see them?”

Damian shrugged and stepped out of the shoes, wincing slightly as his bare soles touched the hot concrete.  Dick crouched down and picked one up, looking it over casually.

In an overly casual tone, Dick asked, “Nothing in your pockets?”

Confused, Damian said, “I don’t have pockets in this swimsuit.  Why?”

Dick’s smirk grew, and before Damian knew what was happening, Dick had stood and reached out to the boy.  Hands slid up sweat slick sides, until they caught under the boy’s arms, and Damian was lifted from the ground.

Damian rolled his eyes and sighed before saying, “Grayson, what are you doing?”  Then, his eyes widened as he realized, too late, what Dick was up to.  “No, Grayson!  Don’t!”

Dick’s smile grew larger and eviler, “Don’t what?  This?”

The youth soon found himself airborne.  His shout of surprise was drowned out by the stupendous splash when he landed in the middle of the pool.  Damian came up, coughing and sputtering, and yelled at the visibly satisfied Dick, “Why did you do that?”

Dick smiled at the boy, bobbing in the pool.  “You were sent out here to relax, not to clean.  You’ve done enough cleaning this week.”

“I was sent out here to do both,” Damian grumbled.  “You just caught me between activities.”

Dick laughed, turned, and walked towards the house.  “Wait!” Damian cried out.

“What?”

“You throw me in here, and you aren’t even going to join me?”

Dick smiled back at the boy, “I will, just let me get changed first.”

Damian watched the man enter the manor as he floated on his back in the cool water.  _I would have gone swimming, he didn’t have to throw me in like that.  Maybe I should look into finding some water balloons the next time Pennyworth takes me to the store with him._ Damian sighed to himself.  _I spend too much time around Grayson.  That sounded awfully close to playing.  I’ll be thirteen in a few months.  If I can make it this far in my life without playing, why start now?_   A small part of Damian’s brain told him that it would make Grayson and Father happy, which kept him from dismissing the idea completely.

Growing bored waiting on Dick to return, Damian climbed from the pool and flopped down on a deck chair, letting himself drip dry.  After a minute, he got up, adjusted the umbrella to cover the chair better, and lay on his stomach, his head cradled on his arms.

Damian was close to sleep when he heard bare feet brushing on concrete.  A slight smile came to his face as the chair jostled under him as someone sat on the edge.  Thanks to the way he had adjusted the umbrella, there was no shadow cast over him by the new visitor.

_Who do I want to place my bets on?  Is this Grayson or Father?  Todd would have probably just thrown me in the pool again, and Drake would have sat in his own chair._

A finger touched his back softly, almost nervously, and trailed along the lines of scar tissue left behind by Talia’s whips.  Damian found the light touch soothing as it followed the top of the lines, then the bottom, then the ridge of each scar.

When the soothing touch left his back, Damian sighed contentedly and said softly, “I don’t understand your fascination with my scars.  It’s not like you haven’t seen them before.”

“But…I haven’t.”

Damian’s eyes snapped open.  _That wasn’t Grayson.  I must be hearing things._   He turned his head at the unexpected voice and rolled onto his side quickly.  Had his visitor not been sitting on the same chair, his quick move would have tipped it over.

“Robin!  What are you doing here?”

Surprised, but smiling, the blonde girl said, “Your dad invited me over for a barbeque.  I just figured you had to butter him up, or something, to get me here.”

Damian shook his head, still coming to terms with seeing this angel sitting next to him.  “I didn’t find out we were having a barbeque until this morning.”  Damian’s mind finally snapped back into gear, and a slow smile spread across his face.  “I’ve missed you.”

Damian’s eyes were on Robin’s face, but Robin’s gaze had settled on Damian’s toned abs.  “Um, Robin?  My eyes are up here.”

The girl blushed and whispered, “I thought you had Photo shopped that picture.  I never thought you could really be that hot…”  Her eyes shot up to meet his, wide and embarrassed, “I mean, toned, in shape…”  Her blush deepened and she smiled demurely, “You’re really hot.”

Damian matched her blush as his eyes flicked up and down her body.  He realized she was wearing the same bikini from the picture she had sent him months ago.  As he met her eyes again, he whispered, “So are you.  You touched my stomach before, why is seeing it such a shock?”

“I thought you were flexing, or trying to impress me.”

They were silent for a minute, unashamedly staring at each other, before Damian said, “Just because I happen to be built like this doesn’t mean I’m not trying to impress you.”

Robin grinned, “You don’t have to try that hard.”

Robin’s hand reached out again, but she stopped before touching his chest.  He followed her hand with his eyes and saw that it hovered over his chest scar before falling to rest on the deck chair.

“How did you get that one,” she whispered.

Damian gently lifted her hand and placed it on his chest, with her fingertips resting on the scar.  He held his hand over hers as he said, “You remember when I told you about my motorcycle accident, and my knee injury?”  With his free hand, he hitched up the leg of his shorts to show her the full length of the line on his knee that denoted where his leg had once been opened.  She paled at the thought, but nodded.  “Well, that wasn’t my only injury from the crash.  I also broke four ribs.  They had to operate to put everything back together.”

Robin gasped and tried to rip her hand away, but Damian wouldn’t let go.

“It doesn’t hurt anymore.  If I didn’t want you touching it, you would know.”

Robin relaxed a bit and Damian took his hand away.  To his delight, she kept her hand on the scar and followed it gently to his side with her fingertips.  She yanked her hand away and looked horrified when he flinched.

“You said it didn’t hurt,” she accused him, sounding betrayed.

“It doesn’t,” Damian replied with a smile, “That tickles.”

She gently put her hand back to his side and pressed.  Another flinch and a giggle erupted from the boy, loosening up her mood and forming her lips into a smile.

Damian sat up and stared intently into her eyes.  “Come here,” he whispered, “I’ve wanted to kiss you for weeks.”

Robin leaned in with a smile and matched the boy’s embrace as their lips met.

_Meanwhile…_

“Is this really the best use of your time that you three could find?”

Dick, Jason, and Tim turned away from the railing of the second floor balcony as one at Bruce’s soft question.  Dick smiled and said softly, “But, they’re so cute together.”

“As I said, you have nothing better to do than watch your preteen brother kiss his barely teenaged girlfriend?”

“You’re the one who set up the booty call, Bruce,” Jason said with a snicker.

Tim cocked his head and said, “You know, we never did find out what the two of you agreed on for compensation for Damian working in the mailroom.  Is this his paycheck?”

Bruce had to bite his lip to keep from laughing.  Jason shook his head and said, “Damn.  He doesn’t even officially work for the company, and he gets a better benefits package than I do.”

“Besides, Bruce,” Dick said, as a giggle from Damian could be heard on the balcony, “They aren’t kissing.”

Tim said, “And, he doesn’t even know we’re up here.”

Bruce glanced back over the railing, then stared back at his older boys expectantly.  They looked back at their youngest brother and found Damian and Robin, connected at the lips, arms wrapped around each other, slowly sinking back to lay on the deck chair on their sides.  Damian held an arm up, clenched fist pointed at the second floor balcony, middle finger extended to give a clear message to his peeping brothers.

They turned back to Bruce and Dick said, “Okay, they’re kissing.”

Tim piped up, “And he definitely knows we’re up here.”

“Which is why you should leave them alone.  They barely see each other as it is, they don’t need us hovering over them when they’re just trying to do what all young couples do.  They are definitely in love, but I know my son.  He isn’t going to do anything that will cause Alfred to run out and turn the hose on them.”

Jason smirked as Bruce herded them back into the house.  “My money is on third base, with a strong rounding towards home.  Any takers?”

They all shook their heads, and Tim said, “No bet.  He was already on his way past the short stop when we left.”

_Meanwhile…_

Damian and Robin broke apart, panting for air after several minutes of intense kissing.  Damian had one hand entwined in her long hair, while the other hand gently stroked her cheek.  Robin had one hand resting lightly at the small of his back, while her other hand trailed lazily over the scars on his back.

Their eyes never parted as Robin whispered, “Have I told you lately that you are a really good kisser?”

Damian smiled sheepishly and said, just as softly, “Not lately.  I think you are better than I am, though.”

“You’re not practicing while I’m not around, are you,” Robin asked, a bit insecurely.

Damian smirked, “I try every now and then, but Drake won’t hold still.”

“That’s a little creepy, Damian,” Robin said, her face slowly inching back from his.

“I know,” Damian winced, “I wish I hadn’t said it now.”

A smile alighting on her features, and with her hand still trailing over his back, Robin said, “You never told me how you got these scars.”

Damian sighed and said, “Yes, I did.  I just didn’t tell you there were so many.”

Robin looked curiously at him and asked, “These aren’t from the crash too, are they?”

“No.  Remember when I told you about Ta…my mother?” Robin nodded silently.  “What was the one word in my explanation of…her…that you had the most trouble with?”

Robin thought back to that conversation, the one that made her realize that Damian was far stronger than she had initially thought.  She said meekly, “Beatings?”

Damian just nodded.

“You didn’t tell me she left scars,” Robin breathed.

“Everything she did left scars,” Damian whispered.  “But this is our time, not time to talk about her.”

Damian leaned back in and brushed his lips against Robin’s neck.  Robin leaned her neck into the kiss and moaned softly, “Really good at this.”

The next time they parted for air, Robin was rubbing her calf up and down Damian’s leg.  After another minute, she smiled and said, “You know, I shaved my legs for this.  I wanted them to look good for you.  Your legs are almost as smooth as mine.  What’s your excuse?”

Damian’s eyes widened slightly, and he responded innocently.  “What makes you think I didn’t shave my legs for you?  So they would look good to you?”

Robin giggled and responded, “Because you told me you didn’t know I was coming over.”

Damian smiled, then his look dimmed as yet another thought that he might be too young for her crossed his mind.  “I’m twelve, remember?  They’re starting to grow in.  I guess I’m just one of those late bloomers.”

Robin’s fingers lifted Damian’s chin to look in his eyes.  “That is nothing to get upset over.  I kind of like it.”

Damian was confused, “Are you saying you _want_ me to shave my legs?”

“I don’t know.  Let’s see what they look like when you start getting more hair.”  Robin ran her fingers up Damian’s chest and said softly, “But this, this I like smooth.”

Damian looked down again and said, “I hate to disappoint you, but you obviously haven’t seen Father without a shirt.”

Robin shook her head, “Why, is he hairy?”

Damian just nodded.

Sounding more distressed that he hoped she would be, she asked, “Well, what about your mother?”

Damian looked at Robin strangely.  “I have never seen her without a shirt, nor do I want to.  We’re not on speaking terms, remember?  Besides, I don’t think male body hair is inherited from the mother’s side.”

Robin blushed, “Yeah, it’s still hard thinking about you and your mother.  What about your brothers, though?  Are they hairy, too?”

“Why does this bother you,” Damian asked, “Historically, a hairy chest is a sign of manliness and virility.”

Robin sighed, “I just like a smooth chest.  Personal preference, I guess.  So, what about your brothers?”

“Well, they are less hairy than Father.  You will probably get to see that tonight, actually.  I can’t really see it making much of a difference, though.”

“Why not,” Robin asked.

Damian smirked and said, “Because they are all adopted.”

Robin blushed again, causing a smile to settle on Damian’s face.  “Oh, right.  I don’t know why I keep forgetting that.”

“Because it’s not something people naturally think about.  It’s okay.  It doesn’t really help anything that we all somewhat resemble each other.  We don’t really think about it anymore, either.”

“What about you?” Robin asked after a short silence.

Damian shrugged, “I guess I’m kind of like you.”

“What do you mean?” Robin asked, looking at Damian strangely.

“I would prefer for you to not have a hairy chest, too.”  Robin giggled, and Damian continued, “Anyway, you know I wasn’t adopted.  I’m glad that they were, though.”

“Why?”

“Well, the old saying is ‘you can’t choose your family’, but Father did.  Lately, I’ve come to the realization that Father made some good choices.  But, I don’t want to talk about them anymore.  They aren’t watching anymore, so we don’t have to worry about them.”

Robin looked shocked, “They were _watching us_?”

“They were standing on the second floor balcony before we started kissing.  Father corralled them back inside.”

“So…we’re alone?”  Robin’s hands started slipping slowly south on Damian’s chest.

He gently held her hands and said, “Not _that_ alone.  See that window?  The second one to the right of the back door?  That’s the kitchen window.  While he won’t be standing there, staring at us, Pennyworth is occasionally checking on us.”

Robin looked concerned, but Damian just grinned and said, “Don’t worry.  If we were doing something he considered inappropriate, we would know about it by now.”

“Oh,” Robin said, “Well, what do you want to do now?”

“Keep pushing the envelope,” Damian whispered as they kissed again, again laying back in the deck chair.

Several minutes later, Damian’s eyes flew open sharply.  Over the past couple months, Damian had allowed himself to open up to new feelings and experiences.  Some of them had to be explained to him, but for the most part, everything had worked out for him.  The feeling that was currently shoving itself into the forefront, however, was one that had required no explanation.  It was one that seemed to occur at the most inopportune moments, and he found he really had no control over it.

Gently, he removed his hand from Robin’s side and slowly moved it behind him.  Grabbing the towel off of the side table, Damian slowly pulled it over to try to cover his embarrassment.  He figured if he could wait it out, Robin didn’t have to know what had just come over him.

Damian wasn’t that lucky.

Robin had been rubbing her calf against Damian’s leg again, slowly, when the end of the towel came to rest on her thigh.  She broke their kiss, thinking an insect had landed on her leg, but saw the towel instead.

“Damian, what are you doing?”

Caught, he flushed deep red in embarrassment.  “I’m sorry, Robin,” he mumbled, “A small problem.  It’ll go away in a few minutes.”

Robin saw the embarrassed look on his face, then looked back to the positioning of the towel, and smiled compassionately.  She looked deep into his eyes and gently slid the towel away.  Glancing down out of an uncontrollable reflex a minute later, she gasped at the tent in his shorts.  “Not that small of a problem.”

Damian had closed his eyes and looked close to tears when Robin stroked his cheek.  “Damian, look at me.”  He opened his eyes reluctantly, finding love in the gaze that met his.  “Is that for me?”

Damian looked like a deer in the headlights as Robin clarified, “What I mean is, is that a result of what we’ve been doing, and your thoughts of me?”

Damian nodded slightly.  Robin smiled back at him and said, “Then, why are you embarrassed?”

Damian sat up, shaking his head.  “I’m sorry, Robin.  I don’t want you thinking that…that that is all I want from you.  I want more than that.  I want a relationship.  You’ve become my best friend.  I can talk to you about things I can’t talk about with anyone else.  I don’t want to ruin that with…this.  I still don’t think I’m ready for…for sex yet.  I don’t want to rush us into anything.  You mean too much to me.”

They were silent for a minute before Robin sat up and said, “You mean a lot to me, too.  I love that you feel this way about me.  This won’t ruin what we‘re building; I won’t let it.  This is nothing to be embarrassed over.  If anything, it’s flattering.  And, as I understand it, it is an autonomic reflex.  You can’t control that any more than I can control how turned on you make me.”

Damian grumbled, “Yeah, but you don’t get an external, visual reminder every time you get aroused.  Wait, you get ‘turned on’ around me?”

Robin smiled and said, “We’ve been kissing for the better part of the last hour.  Do you think that would still be going on without mutual attraction?”

Damian sighed, starting to relax.  “That is why I love you.  You make it okay that I have no experience with interpersonal relationships.”

“ _That’s_ why you love me?”

Damian smirked, “That, and those amazing lips.  And, I guess, you have an amazing personality, and you can make me laugh.  And you have the patience of a saint.  You need it, to keep putting up with me.  But, I think it’s mostly the lips.”

Robin smiled at the joke and said, “Well, I think your lips are pretty amazing, too.  Let’s put these amazing lips back to work.”

They moved in, but Damian stopped just short and whispered, “I’m sorry I’m not ready to move faster yet.  I’m trying.  I love you more than anything, and I don’t want to lose you.”

She responded in a matching whisper, “What’s wrong with the speed we’re moving at now?  We always said that the speed we move at can change at any time.  I…I don’t think I’m ready for sex yet, either.  It might be fun to try, but what he have now is too good to risk over giving in to something like that.”

They smiled in agreement and resumed the exploration of each other’s mouths.

A few minutes later, Damian stopped again, after feeling a tug on the drawstring of his swimsuit.  “What are you doing,” he whispered nervously.

“I know we just talked about it, and I’m not trying to pressure you into anything, but I want to see what caused you so much embarrassment earlier.  I’ve never seen one, you know, in front of me.  I’ve seen pictures, but never…in person.  I just want to take a peek.”

Robin tugged more insistently at the knot in the string, but stopped when she looked up and noticed Damian was trembling.  His eyes were tightly shut and he was rocking back and forth slightly.  What scared her the most was what she could hear in his barely audible mumble.

“It’s Robin.  It’s not him.  Robin won’t hurt me.  Robin loves me.  She isn’t him.  She won’t hurt me.  She won’t do that to me.  I trust Robin.”

“Damian?” She asked gently.

Damian opened his eyes, and she gasped at the fear held there.  “Damian, what’s wrong?  What did I do?”

His bottom lip shaking hard, he gasped, “You didn’t do anything.  This isn’t your fault.”

Damian pulled his knees to his chest, wrapping his arms around them tightly.  Robin had never seen him look more like a lost child than she did now.  “What happened?” she breathed out.

He sank his head to his knees and almost cried, “I don’t want to talk about it.  I swore I would never talk about it again.”

_This sounds serious,_ Robin thought.  “Who did you swear that to?”

“To me.  It’s too painful.  Damn it, I thought I was past all this.  Why does this have to happen now?”

Robin reached out to place a hand on a quaking shoulder, but stopped just short of making contact.  “I won’t press.  I love you, and I trust you enough to know that you know what you’re doing.”

Damian took a shuddering breath, “No.  You have a right to know.  This will keep coming up if we don’t address it.  I’m so sorry, Robin.  Please don’t hate me for this.”

_Hate him?  He’s in pain, and he thinks I’m going to hate him for it?  Why do I think that this is worse than some scars on his back?_

“I don’t want to hurt you, Damian.  I told you, I won’t press.  You should only tell me what you feel comfortable telling me.”

Damian finally looked up, his eyes red, “That’s just it.  I won’t talk about it unless you ask, and we will never get past this point if you don’t.  So, ask.  I promise I won’t hate you for asking, if you don’t hate me for answering.”

“I don’t think I could ever hate you, Damian.  Tell me where to start.”

He sighed, “Start with whichever question is most pressing on your mind.”

Robin searched her mind before finally settling on, “Who is the _he_ you mentioned?”

Remembering to alter his story enough to suit a non-masked audience, Damian invented new parts of his worst month ever.  “Back when I was living with Talia, she had a…I guess he was a boyfriend…for a while.”

“What did your father say to that?”

Damian shook his head, “My parents were never married.  He didn’t know about this until last year, the last time these memories decided to gang up and kick my ass.  Hell, he didn’t even know _I_ existed until I was ten.”

“Boyfriend?” Robin asked, getting back to her question.

“Yeah.  They were perfect for each other.  They were both assholes.  When Talia wasn’t around, he would watch me.  He…he did things to me.”

Dread poured into Robin’s stomach as she could already see where this story was going.  “Things?” she asked, instantly regretting asking the question.

Damian took a deep, shuddering breath, “He liked to…no.  You don’t need to know about that.  There is no way that hearing that will make you feel better.”

“Damian…”

“He raped me,” Damian blurted out, collapsing back to the deck chair in a shaking mass of tears.

The only sound was the occasional sniff from Damian for close to a minute.  Then Robin gasped deeply, her hands balled in fists just under her eyes.  “Why didn’t you stop me?  You would have let me just pull your pants off if I hadn’t asked what was wrong, wouldn’t you?  How much would that have damaged the relationship we’re trying to build, if you’d let me take advantage of you like that?”

“I’m sorry, Robin.  I can’t control when these feelings are going to hit me.  You’re the first person I’ve ever loved like this.  I don’t know what my triggers are going to be until they hit me.  I would have thought just what I was trying to tell myself.  I trust you, and I love you, and I know that you trust and love me.  I was trying to keep it under control, and now I’ve hurt you.  Please don’t cry, Robin.  None of this is your fault.  You didn’t do anything to feel bad for.”

Robin wiped at her eyes and whispered, “I’m crying because, every time I peel back another layer of your past, it seems like the next layer is full of pain.  How can one person have survived everything you have, at such a young age, and still be as strong as you are?  I love you, Damian.  You’re the strongest person I know, and I hope you still want to, you know, spend time around me, after bringing up all the painful memories I’ve triggered in you.”

Damian sat up and stared into her eyes, red rimmed gaze meeting red rimmed gaze.  “I’m not strong, Robin.  I try to be, but it is a daily fight.”

“One that you’re winning.  You tell me what you told me, and a minute later, you’re comforting me.  I don’t care what you call it, that’s strength to me.”

Damian took a steadying breath and said, “I’m sorry I hurt you.  I never wanted to do that.  If it makes it any easier to look at me in the future, you now know all of my painful secrets from my past.  If there is anything else inside me to find, it’s something I’ve repressed so deeply that even I don’t know it’s there.”  Damian was quiet for a minute before looking up and asking softly, “Can…can I have a hug, please?”

Robin asked nervously, “Is that okay?”

“You aren’t him,” Damian said forcefully, intentionally stopping himself from saying _them_.  “Nothing he ever did was out of care or love for me.  You care.  You love.  And I owe you an apology for how today turned out.  I wish I had some happy memories that I could tell you to help get us over the painful ones.”

Robin gently held Damian and whispered, “You don’t have _any_ happy memories?”

“Just the ones we’re building together.  There are none from before I came to live here.”

Robin snuggled in tighter as they laid back and simply held each other.

_Later…_

The sound of a triple cannonball was followed by a monumental splash, the result of which completely soaked Damian and Robin, who had fallen asleep in each other’s arms in the deck chair.  Dick, Jason, and Tim all held on to the side of the pool and smiled at the gasping lovebirds as they were awakened from their emotionally exhausted sleep.

“Jackasses,” Damian mumbled.

Looking around, Robin and Damian saw that Alfred had started the barbeque, and Bruce was sitting in another deck chair, on the other side of the pool.  They stood up, a bit shakily, and Bruce called out, “Have a nice nap?”

Damian stared into Robin’s eyes, and whispered to her, “They all know.  It’s not a secret, it’s just something we don’t talk about.”

Robin nodded, then said, loudly, “Yes, we did, Mr. Wayne.  Damian has a comfortable shoulder.”

“I hope you brought your appetite, Miss Abbey.  Dinner will be ready shortly.”

She nodded and smiled, then asked Damian, “Where is a restroom I can use?”

Damian took her hand and said, “I’ll show you.  Come with me.”

The five elder residents of the manor watched in shock as Damian led his girlfriend up to the house by the hand.  Dick called out, “Bruce, I think he’s going to do something stupid again.”

Bruce nodded and followed at a discreet distance, but was soon found by his son.  “She asked where the restroom was, Father.  It was easier to show her than draw her a map.”

“Oh, right,” the man replied, “Damian, is everything alright?  You two look…strange.”

Damian sighed, “We need to have a long talk tonight, Father.  Something happened.”

Bruce’s eyebrows shot up towards his hair line.  “Oh, son.  Is it the _something_ we were talking about earlier this week?”

“No,” Bruce released the breath he was holding at that assurance.  Damian continued, “We talked about it, and we had a bit of help in deciding we weren’t ready.  That’s what I need to talk to you about, but later.”

Bruce placed a comforting hand on Damian’s shoulder, and was disappointed when he flinched.  They heard a toilet flush, and Bruce said, “Later, son.  I’ll leave you two alone, and give the others a heads up to cut out whatever jokes or pranks they might have planned.”

“I appreciate that, Father.”

Bruce left, and seconds later, Robin joined Damian back in the hallway.  Damian took her slightly damp hand and asked softly, “Are you okay?”

She nodded, “Yeah.  It’s all a bit of a shock, really.”

Damian swallowed, nervous, “Are _we_ okay?”

Robin stared into his blue eyes.  “I want us to be.  I meant what I said before.  I love you.  If you can fight through everything you’ve been through, then I can be there for you while you do it.”

Damian sighed, “You know, Grayson had a big problem with it when he first found out, too.  I’ll tell you what I told him.  I’m the same person I was a couple hours ago.  You just know a little more about me now.  You don’t need to treat me any differently.  I’m not going to fall apart; I’m not going to break.  What’s really going to help me, because I can see it in your eyes, you’re looking for some way to help me, is to just continue as we were.  I think it is a bit like our first date.  Just because I get scared, doesn’t mean I will always be scared.  Now, you know why I’m scared sometimes, and why I think we need to move slowly at times.”

Robin pulled Damian in close and kissed him, something she was nervous to do.  He responded as he had earlier in the afternoon.  There was no fear or trepidation in the kiss, just comfortable love.  The kiss only lasted for a couple seconds, but it told her so much about where they were going.

“Okay, Damian, my love.  I believe you.  I’m here for you, whenever you need me.”

Damian smiled, “I’ll hold you to that.”

_Later still…_

A chill breeze picked up at the end of their al fresco meal, canceling their thoughts of an after-dark swim.  Instead, Damian put his shirt back on, and Robin dressed in her cover-up, and they sat on the couch in the den and held each other.

Damian had been about to ask what sort of plans had been made for Robin for the night when Alfred came into the den, followed by Mike Abbey.  To Damian’s surprise, Mike smiled as he saw Robin sitting, with her head laying on Damian’s shoulder.  After a quick good night kiss, she was gone.

Close to midnight, both Bruce and Dick slipped into Damian’s room.  Damian was lying awake, staring at the ceiling, when his elders joined him and laid down, one on each side of the child.

“Talk to us, Damian,” Bruce said softly.

Immediately, Damian started in.  “I had to tell Robin about Amin Taun.”

Bruce shot up to a sitting position and stared wide-eyed at his son, “WHAT?”

“Relax, Father.  I invented a cover story for it.  She had been asking me about my scars earlier, and I told her the cover stories about those.  We were…kissing…a lot.  And, well, I…um…got a little…excited.”

Even in the dark, he could see Dick’s smile.  “ _Really?_   Alfred didn’t say anything about that.”

Damian rolled his eyes, annoyed.  “Because we didn’t do anything, Grayson.  I got embarrassed and tried to cover it up with a towel.  She caught me, and told me I shouldn’t be embarrassed.  She convinced me that she was right, and we went back to kissing.  Then, she said she had never seen one outside of a picture, and she wanted to see what our hour of kissing had done to me.”

“Wait,” Bruce said, still caught between shock and mirth, “You were…aroused…and she was going to take a peek down your shorts?  And you were okay with this?”

Despite himself, Damian smiled, “I thought I was.  I love her, Father.  My body was okay with it, but my mind wasn’t, apparently.  I…I started having flashbacks.  It was terrible, Father.  Why can’t I control them?  This hasn’t happened to me in almost a year, why did it have to happen now?”

Bruce sighed and pulled Damian tight into his side.  “I’m sorry, son.  That’s a terrible thing to happen.  What did you tell her?”

Damian was trying everything he could not to tremble at the memory, but it didn’t help.  Bruce’s hug helped, and when Dick scooted closer helped more.  “We had already had a talk about Talia, so I used that.  I told her that Amin Taun was once Talia’s boyfriend, and that he would…do things to me.  I didn’t want to get into details, but I did tell her that I was raped.  We talked a bit, and I tried to convince her that nothing that happened was her fault.  I don’t know if she believed me.”

They were silent for several minutes, each trying to come up with something helpful to say in the situation.  Finally, Bruce said, “Thank you for letting us in on your cover story.  We need to know about that if it ever comes up in the future.  Son, I’m so sorry that happened.  Is there anything we can do to help you?”

Damian sighed, “It’s really all up to her now.  She said she would stay with me, and that it wouldn’t change anything with us.  I’m not holding out too much hope of that being true, though.  Just look how well that promise worked with you two.” Damian winced as both Bruce and Dick flinched.  “Sorry, but that next day was really uncomfortable, after I told both of you.  I guess tomorrow will be the deciding factor.  If she shows up to the party, then we can work everything out.  If she doesn’t, well, I’ll have my answer.”

They were silent for several more minutes before Damian said, drowsily, “There is one thing you can do for me, though.”

“What’s that?” Bruce and Dick said at the same time.

“Stay with me?  I don’t want to be alone tonight.”

The adults made no answer, they just snuggled in more tightly around their boy.

_Monday…_

The annual Fourth of July party at Stately Wayne Manor had begun an hour ago, yet Damian and Dick had yet to make an appearance.  Damian alternately paced around his room, or sat on the edge of his bed, hands clutching his head.  Dick sat in the boy’s desk chair and watched silently.

“She’s not coming.  I just know she’s not coming.  I scared her off, Grayson.  Damn it, why can’t I just be normal?”

Dick shook his head.  It was the tenth time in the last two hours he had heard the same rant.  He didn’t try to calm the boy.  The last seven times he had tried hadn’t worked, why would the eighth?

Damian rose from his bed again and turned to look at Dick.  “Aren’t you going to say something, Grayson?”

Dick sighed, “What do you want me to say that I haven’t tried already?  You aren’t a freak.  Normal is boring.  You just have more experiences in your short life than just about anyone else.  None of this helped before, why will it now?”

Damian sat on the edge of the bed closest to Dick and grabbed his hand desperately.  “Tell me I did the right thing.  Tell me I didn’t have any other choice but to tell her.  I love her so much, Grayson.  She had a right to know, even if what I told her is just a fragment of the truth.  I couldn’t just leave her thinking that what happened was her fault.  Tell me I didn’t fuck this up irreparably.”

“I would tell you to watch your language, Master Damian.  You cannot be using such language when you go downstairs.”  Alfred stood in the open doorway to Damian’s room, concern only just barely covered by professionalism.

Damian looked at the butler, then back at the floor as he said, “Sorry, Pennyworth.  I’m just so scared that I’m going to lose her over this.”

“You needn’t be, young sir.  If she is the one for you, then she will find a way to accept this as another part of you.”

Damian took a deep breath and whispered, “I wish I had your assurance, Pennyworth.”

Alfred smiled, “You don’t need mine, Master Damian.  I have come up with a message, though.  Two, actually.  Your father wishes to remind the both of you that you are considered to be hosts at all Wayne Manor parties, and hosting duties cannot be accomplished from your bedroom.  I also have a special message from the quartet maestro.  There seems to be an unattended guest looking for a dance partner.  She was promised a full dance card, and yet has no one to dance with.”

Damian looked up, shock on his face, “She’s here?”

Alfred couldn’t help but smile, “The Abbey’s arrived ten minutes ago.  Miss Robin headed directly for the dance floor.”

Damian swallowed, fixing his hair in the mirror, “How does she look?”

“Quite charming, young sir, and I must say, so do you.”

Dick stood and beamed at the boy, “Go get her, Tiger.”

Damian gave his soft smile to the men standing in his room.  “Thanks, you two.”

Down in the ball room, Robin stood at the edge of the dance floor and listened to the string quartet play.  The longer she stood there, the more concerned she became.  _I hope he’s okay.  I hope I didn’t scare him too much yesterday.  I wouldn’t be surprised if he didn’t want to see me anymore.  I want this to work.  I love him so much.  We can get past anything, if we just try._

The musicians started a sprightly waltz, just as a throat was cleared close behind the teen girl.  “I believe this is our dance.”

A smile split Robin’s face as she turned and jumped at the suited boy standing behind her.  He returned the hug tightly, not giving one damn about the way the socialites stared at them. 

“Thanks for coming,” he whispered in her ear, “Now that I see you, I know we can get past anything.”

“I was just thinking that,” she said softly as he led her to the middle of the dance floor.  “There is only one problem, though.”

Damian winced, but asked, “What is that?”

She smiled at him and said, “I don’t know how to waltz.”

Damian matched her smile and said, “That’s okay.  You’ve taught me so much, it’s time I was able to teach you something in return.  The key to the waltz is the same as any other dance.  You need to trust your partner to lead you where you need to go.  Do you trust me?”

Green eyes were lost in blue, and Robin whispered, “Just as much as you trust me.  After yesterday, I think that trust is absolute.”

Damian gave her a light kiss on the cheek and whispered in her ear, “A simple yes would do.”

For the next three hours, Damian and Robin spun and swayed together on the dance floor.  The style of music didn’t matter.  Damian put everything Alfred had taught him about dancing to the test, and they captivated the entire party.  No one, other than the dancing pair, was happier than the line of Wayne’s and Abbey’s, leaning against the Ball Room wall to watch their children.  The party faded away.  Their insecurities faded away.  Time, space, music, everything faded away.  They were together, and that was all that mattered.

 

**A/N:  I don’t know why I even try to estimate how long my stories are going to be anymore.  They always end up at least twice as long as my original estimate.  I’m sorry this one is coming out late, but that’s how life goes lately.  I wanted to post this one on the 4 th, to keep it timely, but that obviously didn’t happen.  That’s a good thing, though.  If I had posted it on the 4th, it wouldn’t be the story it is now.**

**I hope no one is too offended by the frank discussions of sex in this story.  It is a part of young love.  Robin and Damian have been together for months at this point in the timeline, it is only natural that their thoughts would turn there.**

**My next story was going to be Straw, Sticks, and Bricks, but now, that isn’t going to happen.  I am still going to write it, but it will not be posted for quite a while.  Given the premise of the story, and the current political climate, it is just safer and more considerate if I just hold on to that one for a while.  Instead, I will move on to The Fire That Burns, which will be a darker piece.  It will see new changes rock the lives of our heroes.  So far, it is planned for seven chapters, and I’m pretty sure it will remain at seven.  Look for that to start within a few weeks.**

**Thanks for playing along.  Once again, I am running out of prompts, so if there is anything you would like to see, PM me and I will consider it.**


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